My social life as a wheelchair user

Available for over a year

Imagine being dressed up for a night out with friends and being thrown out of a bar because your wheelchair is considered a fire hazard. When 18-year-old Maddie Haining was ordered to leave a nightclub in the UK it prompted a wider discussion about disability and accessibility in different countries around the world. Four wheelchair users - Maddie in the UK, Brian Muchiri in Kenya, Nadia Leila Carelse South Africa and Haleigh Rosa in the US - share some of the obstacles they have encountered when trying to socialise. Their experiences range from drunks in bars grabbing their wheelchairs to people praying for them in public. Even a simple visit to the toilet can become a problem. “I’ve encountered issues, even in a restaurant that’s accessible, where the wheelchair accessible bathroom has been used as storage,” said Haleigh Rosa, from Florida, USA. “So therefore I don’t have a bathroom and that’s nothing that I can foresee. It was just something I had to figure out when I got there.” Presenter: James Reynolds BBC producer: Ben Davis Boffin Media producer: Sue Nelson Editor: Harriet Oliver and Arja Haikonen (Photo: Maddie Haining wearing a baseball cap drinkiing a green smootnie)