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Hi, I'm so lucky lucky lucky!

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  • Captainwull
    Captainwull Community member Posts: 15 Courageous
    Hi Mr Buttons. My family have been fishermen for 700 years. When I was 16 I asked an uncle if I could go to sea with him just to see how they caught fish. I’d no intention of actually becoming a fisherman. With feet like mine I’d no thoughts of that whatsoever! While on the trip I realised there was nowhere to walk on a 70 ft boat. You took a couple of steps here and another couple of steps there, all the time you were holding onto something due to the movement of the boat. I was able to give the guys a hand because of the limited amount of walking and my uncle offered me a job which I gratefully accepted. Within a year or two I realised my mistake as I was having to strap my feet up tightly because of the pain in order to carry out my duties. I went back to the specialist who said my bones were losing calcium at an alarming rate and he advised me to give it up.
    I stuck it out for a few months more then one day I realised my uncle (who was the skipper) never came on deck or did manual work. He sat in the wheelhouse all day using his brain to catch the fish. I thought that’s the job for me! 
    I took 6 months out and sat my skippers certificate of competency. I went back on the deck afterwards for a few more months and luckily for me he had a heart attack and retired. I became a skipperfor the next 30 years until I was forced to give it up due to the impending amputation. 
    I’m a great believer in where there’s a will there’s a way. 
    The human spirit if used in the right way is a very powerful tool 
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    My apologies, considering the above post, as I appreciate Ilovecats knows way more than I. I should not have commented on this thread.
    I remain unsure why I was awarded PIP, as my main issue was the fact I'm in pain the moment I'm upright due to neurological issues & also joint pain so I felt pain worth mentioning here, but I stand corrected.
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    Many thanks, Ilovecats, I think I did forward my claim to receive the award I felt accurate, & evidenced this. I am however more than a little disconcerted to read the views of another 'correcting' me when I mentioned pain. I felt this appropriate to say, & did not mention any criteria. I was only trying to help the OP further from my understanding of the 'descriptors.'
    I appreciate the other person was also trying to help; I refrained from comments just referencing a little from the 2 resources I've known. My feeling is that having said something, it may disconcert the original poster to read contradictory views. So I would rather say I'm sorry, & wrong.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 231 Pioneering
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • Chloe_Scope
    Chloe_Scope Posts: 10,586 Disability Gamechanger
    Welcome to the community @Captainwull, great to have you here! If there's anything we can do to help then please do let us know!
    Scope

  • pollyanna1052
    pollyanna1052 Community member Posts: 2,032 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi Pollyanna. Saying I brought a tear to your eye made me feel humble again ? I don’t feel I’m anything special. I just like to try my best to live a happy and fulfilling life. I always say to folk that my disability made me who I am. It made me try harder to be successful. Had I been normal I might not have had the same determination. Therefore I do feel lucky in a strange sort of way ? 
    I don’t get hung up over losing all the money. I discovered cycling again and still have my legs. That means a lot more to me than the money ever did. Thru cycling I’ve climbed Mount Ventoux, the Tourmalet, Alpe du  Huez and numerous other iconic mountains in cycling folklore. I’ve biked right across England from Coast to Coast, done the tour of Flanders 6 times and raised tens of thousands of pounds for many charities in the process. But ask me to walk across across the road without crutches and I’ll decline! ? 

    I really really hope your successful with PIP claim. 

    There you go again...even more incredible deeds! You ARE wonderful, really!
  • pollyanna1052
    pollyanna1052 Community member Posts: 2,032 Disability Gamechanger
    edited November 2019
    Just wondering (and nosey) how old are you now?  A friend of mine has started a charity called CYCALL.....look her up ...she has raised oodles of dosh for cycles for disabled people.
  • Captainwull
    Captainwull Community member Posts: 15 Courageous
    Hi Pollyanna. I’m 60. Act like I’m 16 ?‍♂️ 
    I’m  a member of a group called Wheels for Wellbeing. They try to encourage disabled folk to try cycling both as a means of staying fit but also as a form of mobility. I thought about a wheelchair at one time but knowing I could cycle I persevered with it and bought a wee Brompton folding bike. It folds into the size of a small suitcase but has wheels so I can roll it when it’s folded to use it as a sort of wheeled Zimmer frame when, for whatever reason, I’m not allowed to cycle. ( shopping malls train stations etc)
    Bikes are not recognised as mobility aids so it becomes difficult at times. Theres always some jobsworth comes along and orders you off the bike. You try to explain that your disabled and the bike is my wheelchair but they never listen. They just tell you to get off and walk. Even showing my scars and lack of muscles never works.
    A policewoman in Paris once said she would arrest me if I didn’t walk. I tried explaining my disability and other members of the public tried to help me out too. She ignored everything and pulled out her gun and said get off the bike or I will shoot you ?. 
    Luckily for me another policeman came along and told her to put the gun away and let me stay on my bike ?
  • pollyanna1052
    pollyanna1052 Community member Posts: 2,032 Disability Gamechanger
    Chuffin` `ell! Pulling a gun on you.........the mind boggles! It`s a good job a cop with sense happened along!

    I think a bike which doubles as a wheeled zimmer is great! I used a wheeled zimmer for a while before going into a wheelchair full time. I dragged myself along and had falls daily...some were quite spectacular!

    When I was a kid/teenager, I loved to cycle. When my mobility first became a problem, I used a 4 wheel mobility scooter..it was fab and I loaded it into my estate car with ramps.

    I`ve had to adjust to so many changes as my condition progressed. Been at this game 20+ years now. I`m 67 and was active and fit until the age of 45. Disability came as a huge blow and turned my life upside down.

    Nice to chat to you . best wishes xx
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 231 Pioneering
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • Captainwull
    Captainwull Community member Posts: 15 Courageous
    Falls.... ? had my share of them too. Last one was earlier this year. Well, it wasn’t really a fall. I’d decided to bike from Lands end to John o groats to try and raise the profile of Wheels for Wellbeing. 
    I wasn’t bothered how long it took, 3 weeks a month just so long as I did it.
    Was supposed to start in June but at the beginning of May I got knocked off my bike with a transit van that didnt stop. Broke a few bones including my shoulder which hasn’t healed right. So I’ve decided no more charity stuff ?
    I’m sorry to hear you were active and fit until 45. That must be worse than my deal. At least when your born with something you don’t know any better, ignorance is bliss. But when you’ve had a normal life then it’s taken away from you that must be really hard to deal with. 
    You have my sympathies. Take care. Speak later. 

Brightness

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