Broken Sidewalks Trap 74-Year-Old Santa Cruz Woman Indoors for a Year
In Santa Cruz, a 74-year-old woman using a wheelchair has been homebound for a year because of dangerous, broken sidewalks, leading her wife to urge the city council for urgent repairs.
Amparo, a 74-year-old from Santa Cruz, has been unable to leave her home on Manuel Verdugo street in the Uruguay neighborhood for a year. Just before the pandemic, she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm, complicated by hydrocephalus, following a period of depression. This has left her needing a wheelchair to get around.
Since then, her wife Juani, who she has been with for 31 years and married to for 4, has been her primary caregiver. Amparo's severe disability means she can only take up to 10 steps, has limited speech, and needs help with daily tasks and bladder/bowel control.
"Years ago, I used to take Amparo for daily wheelchair walks to the Zurita bridge, sometimes with other caregivers," Juani told DIARIO DE AVISOS. "But now, because of the poor condition of the sidewalks on streets like Obispo Pérez Cáceres, El Olvido, and Sor Carmen Iriarte – due to a lack of maintenance – we haven't been able to take her out of the house for almost a year. Her wheelchair wheels get stuck in broken curbs or at the edges of sidewalk ramps, which is very dangerous for someone with limited movement. She's even nearly fallen headfirst several times, even though she's strapped in."
Juani is simply asking the city council to fix the streets so she can take her wife out for walks in the neighborhood again. She says it's a real shame Amparo is stuck at home, especially since she's already had to arrange for home medical care and physiotherapy because they can't get her out in her wheelchair.
Carlos Tarife, the Councilor for Public Services, said he hadn't known about Amparo's situation. However, he added that the city's maintenance company would be sent to inspect the sidewalks. Based on their report, steps would be taken to improve accessibility in the area.