The Giving Hands

Four years ago, Derrick, who was then 29 years old, fell from the 4th storey of a building and injured his spinal cord on level T4,T6 and T8. He lost his ability to walk and is now a wheelchair user. However, the determined young man is learning to walk again. Derrick is currently working at Eden Handicap Service Centre as a volunteer. He keys in and maintains the database and he also does some administration work, e.g. issuing receipts when Elreen, the Treasurer, is not around.

Derrick is a member of the Perwira K9 Malaysia society, a support group for people with spinal cord injuries, which is based in KL. The society was formed by a group of patients in the spinal ward of Hospital Kuala Lumpur, with the support from the rehab specialists, doctors, counselors, physiotherapists, nurses and a few ex-patients. In short, the Perwira K9 is an organization formed and run by people with spinal cord injuries. Members of the society give advice to patients with spinal cord injury and help them accept and adapt to the drastic change in new lifestyles and to bravely carry on with life.

When Derrick started using the wheelchair, he felt that his world was crumbling down on him and he felt that the biggest issue he faced in the society was the look he received from the public. But he doesn’t care about them anymore because he feels very strongly that people with disabilities still need to carry on with their lives.

One of Derrick’s pet peeves is the fact that there are buildings that do not have ramps or toilets for people with disabilities. What angers him even more is the fact that despite the availability of a toilet for people with disabilities, the management locks it up or converts it into a storeroom instead. Moreover, he had also seen toilets that are not big enough for a wheelchair user to navigate into. And there are also inconsiderate people who use toilets and parking lots reserved for people with disabilities.

I hope that the public do not “look” or stare at us in a weird way because wheelchair users are also human beings. The only difference between a wheelchair user and a normal person is that we use a wheelchair to move around instead of using our legs to walk. It isn’t easy for people with disabilities to walk out of their rooms or houses. They needed a lot of courage to do so, and I have had such experience. And, please, do not utilize facilities meant for people with disabilities.

- Derrick

Derrick adores Ras Adiba, a former TV3 newscaster who who became paralyzed from the waist down in mid-2002, who never gave up on life. Ras Adiba is currently the President for Perwira K9. You may read more about Ras Adiba here.