Carlos Padilla is a 30 year old man with a charming smile who has just recently been attending Asoplejicat. Carlos never imagined that he would need to attend an independent living center. He survived a motorcycle accident approximately 10 months ago, and as a result he now has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair. Prior to the accident, he worked in a machine factory and was married with two children. Carlos talked to us about his wife leaving him and loosing his job after the accident. With all of the loss that he sustained, he shut himself in his room for months, with thoughts of wanting to die.
We met Carlos at Asoplejicat, an independent living center, where he is beginning rehabilitation.
He uses a wheelchair for mobility and is dependent on his sister or his niece for moving him from his wheelchair to his bed. Carlos was in attendance while the CITTI Project team demonstrated various low tech adaptations and tools to the members of Asoplejicat. After the demonstration, individuals went off to different areas to either make the adaptations or learn strategies for using the tools. When a CITTI Project team member asked Carlos what he wanted to do, he said that he would like to try the transfer board, a tool that aides individuals in moving or transferring from one surface to another.
We went into the independent living center’s training apartment, and Carlos wanted to try to transfer from his wheelchair to a couch which is the same size as his bed at home. After explaining transferring techniques and the process of using the transfer board, Carlos was eager and ready to try this tool himself. With us by his side talking him through the process, Carlos for the first time only relied on the transfer board to move from his wheelchair to the couch. There was no need for translation when he successfully and safely made it to the bed using the transfer board; his face said it all with a huge confident smile. The kind of smile that says WOW and lets others know that something life changing had just happened.In Carlos´ own words “I depend on my sister to help me do everything, take a shower, move from one place to another and now I feel I can do it myself.” Then Carlos did it again – using the transfer board he moved back to his wheelchair. Another smile appeared and his arms flexed into a triumphant victory pose. (pictures: Carlos transfers using a transfer board. Carlos smiles at his independent success!)
Carlos did not stop there either, he went into the bedroom the next day and with instruction from Lorena, another member of the Asoplejicat community who was trained to teach transfer techniques, he slid across the transfer board from his wheelchair into the bed. An actual bed that is much higher that the first couch he transferred to the day before. With the support of his community, and the CITTI Project team, Carlos is on his way to independence.