A HEARTWARMING video shows a Scot with quadriplegic cerebral palsy loving life on a disability bike after care cuts left her stuck indoors for most of the last 18 months.
Suzy Stewart was filmed looking ecstatic as she was pushed around in a rental disability bike in Dumfries by her niece Enola Lagneau last week.
The 22-year-old had her 35 hour a week care package cut at the start of the pandemic after the company providing it went bust.
Dumfries and Galloway Council allegedly told the family they are struggling to find new carers for Suzy due to staff shortages.
So Enola, 20, and her boyfriend Stuart Jardine decided to take matters into their own hands in order to get Suzy out into the fresh air.
Support worker Enola hired a rental disability bike and filmed Suzy completely in her element as she enjoyed being outside in the sunshine.
In one clip Suzy could be seen enjoying the moment as she embraces in a large smile whilst Enola peddles behind.
Suzy is clearly loving being back out and about and is making the most of the rented bike.
Another clip shows Suzy having a ball whilst cruising around and ringing the bike’s bell.
Enola has now started a GoFundMe campaign seeking £5,000 to buy Suzy her own disability bike and give the family the freedom to take Suzy out more often.
Speaking today Enola said: “The council are saying they’re trying to find another care company to offer the package but I think they’re saying they’re all understaffed.
“I work for Turning Point Scotland and I don’t think that’s true. We’re quite annoyed.
“It’s got to the point where they want my granny to hire her own staff, but we’ve told them that’s not an option because my granny gets anxiety.
“It’s like they can’t be bothered.”
Enola continued: “She is quite outdoorsy but the last year and a half she’s hardly been out because there isn’t that support.
“It’s affected her mental and physical health.
“She doesn’t like my granny doing things for her, she wants a carer to do it.
“She won’t even let my granny feed her.
“That means sometimes she doesn’t get her breakfast until three in the afternoon, and some days she barely eats at all.
Enola hired the disability bike from non-profit charity, Let’s Get Biking Dumfries, for £5 per hour.
She said: “Watching her brought tears to my eyes.
“That morning she was too excited for her breakfast.
“She knows the word bike because she’s been before.
“She kicks her legs when she’s excited and she couldn’t stop kicking them.
“She didn’t stop smiling.
“She loves the noise of the bell as well, and she loved it when we pretended to tell people to move out the road.
“The bike we would buy would come from Holland so the shipping is expensive.
“We didn’t expect such a massive response to the GoFundMe.
“When I said to my granny we could do it, she felt like it was begging, but I explained it was entirely voluntary.”
Enola’s fundraising page currently sits at just over £1,800 out of the £5,000 target.
To donate, please visit https://gofund.me/39a244b8
