National Adult Literacy Database

May 15, 2000

The following stories were written by students at the Neil Squire Foundation, offering Education, Technology, and Career Development for People with Physical Disabilities.

Keith has been studying at the Neil Squire Foundation with his tutor Maureen Ladoceur since October 1998. When Keith was 16, he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. The accident left Keith a paraplegic but that didn’t stop him from hitchhiking around North America in his wheelchair.

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To Miami

by Keith Thompson

My vacation was almost cancelled in 1966 to the fabulous state of Florida because I ended up in hospital. I did not realize I needed an operation, which could have ruled out the trip. After the operation, I had to have a cast up to my hip but I compromised with the doctor and he put the cast just below my hip instead. That made the difference between being mobile and being housebound.

The cast was a bit awkward. It took a few days to get used to it before I was able to head off on Highway 9 to New York en route to Miami. Heading south to Plattsburgh, the weather worsened considerably, making it a nasty night for moving about. I stopped at a gas station and restaurant to get out of the raging blizzard.

As I was looking out into the storm, it looked pretty dismal. So much in fact, that I thought my chances of heading south looked pretty grim. If I was a pessimist, I would have definitely called it quits and turned back to Montreal. But being an optimist, I only got myself into more hell!

As I was sitting there with my meal trying to forget about the storm outside, in comes a sheriff who announced that the road heading south was closed! A few minutes later, a man who was half frozen came in and ordered a meal. I later learned he never would have stopped, except his car heater was broken. Looking at him, it seemed he needed as much help as I did. He was handicapped because of his car!

After he finished eating, he pointed at me and said, "You, with the cast. What the hell are you doing out on a night like this?"

"Oh hell", I answered, "Going to Miami".

I saw him thinking about what I had said and after a bit he looked at me and said, "Well, if you can do it in a cast and wheelchair, I guess I can do it, too. Let's give it a try". I never thought of myself as a source of inspiration but on this trip, I was what he needed to raise his spirits.

When I brought up that the road was closed, he thought of an alternative route and he was able to drive us to New York City via Albany.