This weekend was
perfect for sailboaters to take to the water on Wascana Lake.
For one group of disabled sailors, this was a special experience.
“There’s just you. And
the water. And the boat. And the wind. It’s freedom,” says Judy Winship, who
uses a wheelchair for mobility. She’s had MS for 46 years, and has been in a wheelchair
for seven years.
all the time. Yes, I’ve got a lot of freedom, but there’s many things I can’t do
anymore. But [sailing] I can do,” Winship says.
The Wind on my Wings
accessible sailing club provides disabled people with accessible devices that
allow them to sail.
Tom Webb also has MS
and uses a cane to help him walk. But when he’s in a sailboat, he doesn’t need
any help at all.
“Normally I walk with
a cane and I’m really unsteady at times, and out on the water it’s just you and
the boat,” Webb says.
For just ten dollars a
year, people who are disabled can sail all summer long. And it’s about more
than just sailing.
the community in terms of fostering a little bit of social interaction between
other persons with disabilities,” says organizer Christina Kaminski.
Judy Winship agrees.
“You see the person, you
don’t see what’s all involved with their care and everything else. I think that’s
the part of the freedom.”
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