
Paraplegic girl denied wheelchair access bathroom
Hi I’m Anya. I’m a T12 complete paraplegic. I am completely wheelchair bound as I cannot move or feel my legs. I work full-time as a Teaching Assistant and I have been denied a £14,000 Disabled Facilties Grant from the council to make necessary adaptions to my home.
*If you are a fan of my paraplegic living YouTube channel Anya’s Life - email [email redacted] with proof of you making a donation & I will send you a personalised thank you video :)*
I need financial help to get:
- A wheelchair accessible wet room so I can shower safely without risk of injury
- A new heightened toilet that is easy for me to transfer from my wheelchair onto
- Wheelchair access into my garden (if there was a fire I could not get out the back door) & money to pave over the gravel stones
- A lowered conservatory door frame so I can have wheelchair access into my conservatory that leads to the backdoor
-Widened door frames throughout the entire house
This is because Unfortunately I have been denied a £14,000 Disabled Facilities Grant (after 1 year of waiting) to make necessary adaptions to our bungalow because me and my boyfriend failed the Financial Assessment.
I used to work part-time (because of my disability) and claimed Employment Support Allowance. When I moved in to my boyfriend's mum's house I lost this benefit of £450/month (because if you live with a partner, they cannot work more than 24hrs/week) and was forced to work full-time. After saving hard (and with our parents' help) we bought a little bungalow for just us, thinking we would be entitled to a Disabled Facilities Grant.
We don’t earn much money and we have no savings whatsoever, but it was over the threshold because we work full-time. We cannot appeal this decision. It is just the way it works in the UK. A disabled person who didn’t work and was on employment benefits would get the full £14,000 from the council. Me and my boyfriend would need to cover £21,000 of work before getting any contribution from the council. This work will not exceed £14,000. Me and my boyfriend have modest jobs, and our parents cannot contribute after giving us money for the house. We earn just enough to cover our mortgage, bills and we pay monthly for all our belongings in our bungalow . This was not taken into account in the assessment - it is just based off household income. We are not in the position to save up right now, and I need this bathroom sorting ASAP. It is incredibly dangerous for me. I am at risk of serious injury.
I have to get into a 1 person shower cubicle made for people who can walk into it, even though I’m paralysed waist down. I hurl my body weight using my arms to transfer into a shower chair that we put in the cubicle. I have many injuries from falling hard trying to transfer onto the shower chair.
We also have a temporary raised toilet seat to make my toilet safe, but it slips easy and I’ve fell off the toilet many times - I need a whole new heightened toilet.
There is also no suitable wheelchair access into my conservatory and I do not have backdoor access into my back garden.
I cannot appeal the decision and writing to an MP would not work as the whole UK grant system would have to change, not just my personal situation. I have dealt with an unaccessible dangerous shower cubicle for 1 year and this is the most important and urgent thing to get fixed. This would’ve all been covered by Coventry City Council if I was single and did not work.
Thank you so much to everyone who chooses to donate, no matter how small, you are helping me live an independent life in my own home.