David Sharp sees up close every day the barriers faced by people in wheelchairs. As therapy director for the Marklund Home in Bloomingdale, a home for severely disabled children, he knows what such children are up against when they venture outside the home.
”There is nothing as frustrating as going somewhere only to be confronted with a flight of stairs,” the Carol Stream resident said.
Sharp also knows firsthand what it means to be paralyzed. He was injured in an automobile accident about 15 months ago. ”For 24 hours I was paralyzed,” he said.
His paralysis may have been brief, but he has not forgotten the feelings of helplessness.
And that is part of the reason why Sharp is preparing to make a 444-mile trip through Illinois in a wheelchair.
He will start June 1 at Future City, at the southern tip of the state, and hopes to end on the 4th of July at the Marklund Home. Sharp will travel in a heavy-duty fluorescent yellow wheelchair that is being made for him in Fresno, Calif.
”My main goal is to raise awareness of the challenges faced by those in wheelchairs,” he said. ”The state now requires that buildings be wheelchair- accessible. I plan to talk to mayors in cities along the way and see how this law is affecting them, what impact it has on construction and what problems it causes.”
He will also stop in Springfield and present Gov. Jim Edgar with a gift from the children of Marklund Home.
A second goal of his journey is to raise money for expansion of the Marklund Home, which cares for 98 children.
Expansion of the home is estimated to cost between $5 million and $8 million, and Sharp hopes to raise up to $500,000 during his wheelchair ride.
