After a car accident left one Calgary man blind and paraplegic, bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he felt especially fortunate to own his own home. He was able retrofit his home to make it wheelchair accessible, and made other alterations to better accommodate his new capabilities.

He worked as a social worker for the Canadian Paraplegic Association until 2012, and knew from his experiences there how lucky he was to have housing in Calgary that worked for him following the accident and the spinal injury he suffered.

Now that he and his wife are separating, he needs to leave his home behind, and the lack of accessible rentals in the Calgary area is threatening to leave him homeless.

“I can’t even go to (my) buddies’ places and couch surf because their bathrooms aren’t accessible,” he said. “I’ve been an advocate for people with disabilities for 15 years and helping people find wheelchair accessible housing.  I don’t think it’s ever been as bad as it is right now.”

Not only is there a shortage of wheelchair-accessible housing available to those in Calgary who need it due to medical conditions or because of spinal injuries, but finding what limited options there are can be difficult. There is no agency that maintains a list of accessible housing options in Calgary, making the search for suitable properties very difficult.

Cases like this show just how hard it can be to live with a permanent spinal injury. If you need assistance seeking compensation for a spinal injury that occurred due to someone else’s negligence, please contact Cuming & Gillespie LLP today.