Carol acquiring an all terrain wheelchair.

Wheelchair-Bound

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carol Farneti Foster. I am a widow who has been disabled from Multiple Sclerosis and had a flawed back operation that left me wheelchair-bound since August 2018. Being confined to a wheelchair has been a barrier to allowing me to continue my life’s work— observing and documenting wildlife behavior through film and still photography. For nearly 30 years, my late husband and I were documentary filmmakers for such prestigious organizations as National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and BBC. We were honored with Emmy Awards for our efforts.

During my career, I have been involved with 41 film projects from 1983 through 2016. Some note worthy films include a five-part series called Tales of Belize, The Land of the Anaconda, Rat Wars, Path of the Rain Gods, Night Stalkers, and Phantoms of the Night. My latest projects have included a tribute to Sharon Matola, founder of the Belize Zoo, and a tribute to my late husband, Richard Foster. I have also been an instructor for film school students from New Mexico State University.

My tenacity and passion for wildlife and filming are best described by a short feature called Jungle Passions (filmed by Nat Geo) which describes my first diagnosis of multiple sclerosis while filming “Land of the Anaconda” in Venezuela. After learning of my diagnosis, I was unable to walk to return to filming, so assistants carried me to the shooting location, where I was able to finish my work.

Even though my disability has left me confined to a wheelchair, I still have much to contribute to the conservation community by continuing this work. My goal is to return to wildlife film and photography and continue teaching others the techniques I have perfected throughout my career. But to do so, I need a rough terrain wheelchair that can maneuver on forest trails and uneven terrain.

Before his passing, my husband, Richard, devised a wheelchair that could be pushed around our home in the savannahs of Belize. I have tried using this and my regular wheelchair for filming, but these designs do not work and are quite painful to my back.

Since becoming a wheelchair user, I also require costly round-the-clock care with the assistance of caregivers. The expense of this extra care is prohibitive in the purchase of a rough terrain wheelchair. My quality of life continued commitment, and expected contribution to the documentation of wildlife will be greatly enhanced if I can purchase this assistive device. I am humbly asking for your support to buy the rough terrain wheelchair.