Leaving a venue after a concert ends tends to be hectic, no matter where you are. However, the ride home can be a lot more stressful for someone who uses a wheelchair.
This happened to two West Kelowna, B.C., residents who were left stranded after they were told no accessible taxis were available.
When Hannah Desrochers and Kyle Hindley went to a concert in Vancouver at the end of March they were able to get a wheelchair accessible ride to the show.
However, when the performance ended it was a different story.
“I probably made 30 different phone calls trying to get someone to get us because we needed a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. Every cab company told me they had one or two wheelchair-accessible cabs and either they were being in use right now or they weren’t in the area,” said Desrochers.
As the pair waited near BC Place, they started to get worried thinking about how they might be able to get home.
“It was kind of like out of our hands unless we had someone to help us get him into a regular cab and lift him. We couldn’t get a wheelchair cab, so we were literally just stuck there,” Desrochers said.
“I wouldn’t ever want anyone else to be in that position. It was kind of honestly scary because he’s in a wheelchair and I’m a young female and we were stuck downtown on the street.”
After being stranded for three hours, the two were desperate for a solution but eventually one rolled right up to them.
“This limo driver said he drove by three different times doing three different drop-offs for different people after the concert and he kept seeing us standing on the same street corner,” said Desrochers.
Manase Majuera was the driver that night and said he couldn’t pass by the two another time.
“I dropped my client in another city and coming back maybe another hour or something like that, he is still there. Something is not right, I mean like you know it’s always on my mind, like you know this person needs help, I have to do something,” said Majuera.
“These people are supposed to be home earlier than everybody else, they need help.”
Since the limo was not wheelchair-accessible Hindley had to be lifted into the vehicle manually, which required Desrochers and Majuera to carry him in.
“He was, bless his heart, he was insistent. He was like no, we can do it we can just slide him in,” said Hindley.
Majuera carried Hindley into the back of his limo and brought them back home. They were then able to portable wheelchair lift to get Hindley inside and back in his wheelchair.
“I would do it again and anytime yes especially with the wheelchair people anything with a disability I will do again and again and again. I just try my best to help people,” said Majuera.
The duo is very thankful that someone finally stopped to help and said it didn’t damper the trip.
“Even though the cab situation kind of sucked, I told him that he’d given me a memory I’ll never forget,” Hindley said.