PAYAL Kumar was lost for words yesterday when she received her first wheelchair.

The Rotary Club of Labasa and the Wheelchairs Fiji Association presented her with the wheelchair after the 19-year old's plight was highlighted by this newspaper earlier this week.

She has suffered from juvenile rheumatoid since the age of five and she cannot walk. But she is now looking forward to going back to school. "I can't wait to go to school now as I have waited for this moment for a very long time," she said. Payal said her prayers had finally been answered.

"I thank the Wheelchairs Fiji Association and the Rotary Club in Labasa for giving me a wheelchair and also a big thank you to The Fiji Times team for visiting me for without their article, I would not have received this wheelchair today," she said.

With a joyous look on her face, Payal said the wheelchair was a new way forward for her and her family.

"My wheelchair will enable me to be more independent now and my mother doesn't have to worry about carrying me around the house," she said.

"My parents can now have a good sleep because I will never have to call them if I need moving around the house."

Payal said even though she knew she was capable of doing things on her own, she still needed someone to look after her when she went to school.

"I just need someone by my side in case I drop a pen or a book but other than that I am all right," she said.

Wheelchairs Fiji Association representative Ami Kohli said communities needed to inform the association or the media if they had information about people with disability who needed help.

"We have to look out for families like this that really need our help and I thank the media for stepping out and visiting the family which has made our work even easier because it's a hard thing to try and locate people in need of help," he said.Rotary Club of Labasa president, Rajneel Maharaj said they would always be willing to help.

 

A story of Labasa Rotary published in the Fiji Sun:  http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=378799