People in wheelchairs can now cool off in the water at Lakeside Beach.
They can check in at the canoe rental depot at the park and the staff will provide a floating wheelchair and a specially made mat on which it can be rolled down to the water.
The Nelson Rotary Club's new floating wheelchair was introduced on Aug. 2 at Lakeside's beach. Janis Williams, with help from her caregiver Cathy-Jo Wright, rolled from the top of the beach into the water.
"It felt fine," Williams said. "Very safe. I thank them for doing all this work."
She and Wright agreed that the process of wheeling the chair down the specialty mat was very easy.
"I work with seniors and others in the community, helping them have the best quality of life that we can," Wright said. "It's just been wonderful having a chance to be involved in this."
Wright said the floating wheelchair meets her high bar for safety.
"I was very happy with the functionality of it."
Rotary Club member Susan Wallach, who organized the project, said she saw an article online about Goderich, Ont., which has a floating wheelchair.
"I had never heard of such a thing. So I went online and saw it and from then I suggested to the club, and everybody jumped on board."
Wallach said the wheelchair will be kept at the canoe rental depot, along with a life jacket, and Regional District of Central Kootenay staff there will help with the launch of the wheelchair.
"It's going to be first-come first-served," said Wallach. "We don't quite know what the demand will be. It may be we have to have a reservation system because if you're in a wheelchair, it's a major undertaking to organize something like this."
The club raised the $25,000 cost from the Columbia Basin Trust, the RDCK's Area F, the BC Rehabilitation Federation, and from a fundraising dinner and auction.
