30 Days

Sorry for the delay. Work has beat out blogging the last few weeks.

I wonder how many people caught the last episode of "30 Days". For those of you who haven't seen it, the premise of the show is that someone tries to live in someone else's shoes for 30 days. They've done shows of several professions, living on minimum wage, and a few other things over the years. Generally it's decent enough, and interesting to see what living in someone else's life could be like.

Last week, the show was about living for 30 days in a wheelchair. Specifically, Ray Crockett, a former NFL player, tried living the life of a paraplegic. They allowed him to get up and stretch once a day, but otherwise he was supposed to pretend he couldn't use his legs. Generally, I hate these activities. I think most of the time people only see how hard it is, and end up pitying wheelies. But in this case, I think he learned something.

They sent him home without making any adjustments to his car or home. While he didn't face many of the issues with his home and car that many new paras face, he still struggled. His car easily held the nice little chair that he was given. And he had a bathroom big enough to use comfortably. Doorways weren't a problem, but steps were. And so was having to be driven everywhere by his wife (though she seemed more put out than he did). After they brought in ramps and things, he actually had few problems navigating his house, or his car. At the end of the first day, he was close to giving up.

One of the advantages of this program, as opposed to most "try a wheelchair" projects, is that he actually met people who are paras and quads. One young woman is a new quad, still in rehab learning to do some of the basics all over. Watching her progress is clearly an influence in not giving up for Ray.

He also attends a support group of people who are recently disabled. And the thought of "could I really do this if it were for longer than 30 days" is clearly in Ray's mind. He struggles to find a way to connect to his children without his athleticism (he later figures out that this is something of a self-imposed limitation).

Next up, is a meeting with a quad rugby team. The team that was filmed for the movie "Murderball". And for the first time, he realizes that he isn't in as good a shape as he thought he was. These guys were running laps around him, and the look on his face was priceless. Suddenly, these weren't people to be pitied, they were people to be looked up to.

The show mentions the need for disability rights, and links that in with the wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and the issue of stem cells. I wish it had addressed the financial costs of disability a little more. While they did mention that Ray was in a better position than most people because he had the money to pay for ramps and other adaptations to his home and car, I wish they had addressed this more, especially considering the difficulty that many people with paralysis have with getting and keeping good jobs.

While the show continuously uses language that I wish the world would abandon (wheelchair bound), I think overall it presents a good balance. It shows both the triumphs and the challenges that people with paralysis face.

I'll add a link when and if it shows up on YouTube