Drainage covers on the pavement network can cause irreparable damage to mobility aids like wheelchairs and mobility scooters as I found out whilst out and about in Hereford on Wednesday (25th June, 2025).
I was out for a walk or wheel on a pavement not to far away from where I live and hit a drain cover that was a little bit raised from the pavement itself, this is where I believe that irreparable damage was done to my wheelchair, Aston.
This has unfortunately led to him being condemned thanks to a crack in his frame, I don’t believe that I was doing excessive speed along the piece of pavement to cause this level of damage.
As a result of this incident I have today, Sunday the 29th of June 2025 asked the Highways team at Herefordshire Council to look at the cover in question and see if it was secured properly into the ground.
My message to the authority is a clear but simple and this is, I urge you to review how secure all drains covers are across the pavement in the county as a direct result of what I experienced last Wednesday.
I sincerely hope that this review is undertaken with urgency so that this or something similar cannot be repeated in the future, causing untold distress and upset to those with disabilities and mobility issues.
It has been an emotional days and quite frankly I am not over the shock of losing Aston after spending everyday using him for the best part of 4 years, we had some memorable times together and they include:
- 2021 England Football and Mcdonalds, Grassroots Football Awards at Wembley Stadium.
- Getting more dropped curbs on across 4 locations in Hereford.
- 2 Parliamentary Visits to the Department for Transport.
- Getting accessible waiting spaces and other types of signage installed at 10 railway stations across the network that West Midlands Trains manage.
- A Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in May 2024.
- Numerous covid vaccines
There are a couple of silver linings to come out of all of this with the first being the fact that I will be getting a new wheelchair and the second is that I can use my skills to urge the council to carry out the review that I’m calling above on behalf of our community.
Hopefully this will never happen again to another Herefordshire resident or someone who is visiting the area to see the beautiful countryside that the county is surrounded by.
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It is only right that I end by thanking all those who have been involved in ensuring that I have been able to remain on the road this week since Wednesday, your work to make this happen is very, very, very, very much appreciated and definitely hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Calling you all legends is an understatement right now, you are most definitely heroes in my eyes!!!!!
All that is left for me to do is thank each and everyone of you, my loyal readers and of course social media followers for continually taking the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest post in some cases within minutes of publication. It does not go unnoticed as always and is of course very much appreciated.
Cam
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