Two new all-terrain wheelchairs unveiled at Saint John’s Rockwood Park

First at Five: Park Access For All All-terrain wheelchairs at Rockwood Park in Saint John offer a more accessible experience for all visitors.

A new initiative at Rockwood Park in Saint John, N.B., aims to offer a more accessible experience for visitors.

In partnership with the City of Saint John, the Saint John Ability Advisory Committee hosted “Access Rockwood” to celebrate the launch of its two new all-terrain wheelchairs.

“It's actually super exciting,” says Jen Reid, who is the manager of community services for the City of Saint John. “I've been on them a few times and it just opens up opportunities for people.”

The two new wheelchairs are similar in style but do vary slightly. The eTrike is designed for users with more upper body strength as it is propelled by manually pumping levers. The ePush is designed more for someone to help push the chair. Both have the ability to tackle Rockwood’s rugged terrain and come with an electronic throttle to help users move a little easier.

“You can pop into the Interpretation Centre seven days a week as we have staff there 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” says Reed on those looking to take the chairs out for themselves. “Or if you want to reserve it in advance, you can go to playsj.ca.”

Reed says city staff will meet with those looking to use chairs and ensure they are comfortable with the equipment before they hit the trails at the park.

The accessibility celebration also included a barbeque and various accessible activities, including fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and a number of outdoor games.

ParaNB was also on hand to share information about their programs and offer the chance to try their hippocampe wheelchair.

Jennifer Nouwens took her brother Darren McIntyre, who is in a wheelchair, to Rockwood for the day.

“It's incredible, we never thought of bringing Darren to the park,” says Nouwens. “I've been in tears a couple times since I've been here just to see how many people are enjoying the park and how many people are excited to share the kayaks and the bikes and all these opportunities with the people who have some special needs for doing these activities.”

“They have been restricted for so long,” says Nouwens’ mother Sandra. “And now to be able to come here today is just amazing.”

Phoenix Lowe users a walker full-time and was happy to get to come out and enjoy the day with some of her friends. She says it is great to see the city hold a day for those who have accessibility issues as the options can be limited in Saint John.

She hopes events like this will raise more awareness about removing barriers for those with accessibility issues.

“It's not something that’s talked about,” says Lowe. “It's very nice to see such a wide range of people out with different abilities and knowledge.”

Randy Oldfield is a member of the Saint John Ability Advisor Committee, which helped planed the Access Rockwood festivities.

He agrees with Lowe that events like this should take place more often to make for a more accessible community and allow the public to do and try things they may not otherwise have the chance to.

He looks forward to working with the city to make things more accessible.

“There's always challenges right,” Oldfield says. “Whether it's the terrain, infrastructure, policies or whatever, there's always barriers. The more change the better but this is a small step to helping that happen.”

He says the plan is to make “Access Rockwood” an annual event moving forward, and hopes to expand on it and add more barrier free options for residents to enjoy.

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