#CLIFF WHITESTONE BUS DRIVER HUNTR MANUAL#

Student body president Joe Blizzard spent a half-day in a manual wheelchair during the UC Wheels event this fall. вЂњDefinitely, getting around is frustrating.вЂќ вЂњIt takes a lot of energy just to plan where you want to go,вЂќ Hunter said. She said the normal three- to four-minute walk from the center of campus to the DAAP building, where she takes most of her classes, will take 12-13 minutes. Hunter met Whitestone on her first day at UC. SheвЂ™s pretty ill and sheвЂ™s trucking along.вЂќ Intensive therapy has her able to walk on her own this year. вЂњSheвЂ™s an inspiration,вЂќ said Abbey Hunter of Jeffersonville, Ind., a sophomore who also has suffered from POTS and used a wheelchair provided by the group last year. One example: a smooth-pavement path on Main Street. Whitestone has done several of those trips with UC architects and other officials, searching for ways to make it easier for those who use a wheelchair. She even was grand marshal of this fallвЂ™s Main Street Stride, an annual fall event. Whitestone and SaraSpins have become ubiquitous at UC, appearing before the Board of Trustees and organizing a вЂњUC WheelsвЂќ event when close to 70 students rode around campus on wheelchairs to see for themselves. вЂњBut thereвЂ™s a reason there are so few of us.вЂќ вЂњI do understand that IвЂ™m one person out of 43,000 students,вЂќ she said. Whitestone is one of fewer than 10 students on main campus who have registered for disability services with a wheelchair. They have to bring in a special lower table. вЂњEvery time a friend walks with me to class, theyвЂ™re like, вЂWhere are you going?вЂ™ The heart of main campus doesnвЂ™t even seem welcoming to me. вЂњI think itвЂ™s accessible, but itвЂ™s certainly not equal opportunity and itвЂ™s certainly not inclusive,вЂќ Whitestone said. Riding her wheelchair down Main Street at UC, the chair bounced over all the bricks, and Whitestone has to go through three sets of doors, take an elevator and out-of-the-way ramp to traverse about 50 yards to the western edge of Nippert Stadium. She got herself to UC, an accomplishment she calls вЂњa miracle.вЂќД«ut she soon realized that getting around campus was harder than she had anticipated. She was essentially home-bound for a year. Her parents tried to get her to face the reality that she wouldnвЂ™t go to college, at least not right away. She was hospitalized a couple of weeks later, and Christmas 2010 was, she recalls, вЂњprobably the sickest IвЂ™ve ever been.вЂќ One of the symptoms is POTS, a debilitating auto-immune disease that eventually left Whitestone dependent on a wheelchair. She eventually was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME, sometimes called chronic fatigue syndrome. She thought she had an inner-ear infection. 24, to be exact вЂ“ she missed school with a headache.

She has played flute and piccolo with the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and ran the Flying Pig half-marathon in 2010.Д«ut in late November of that year вЂ“ Nov. Whitestone wasnвЂ™t always in a wheelchair. вЂњHer father and I tell her, вЂDonвЂ™t forget about your classes.вЂ™ But we also see she feels she has this social obligation, and we get that. вЂњSara feels itвЂ™s her job now to let people know that it isnвЂ™t. вЂњI think most of us who arenвЂ™t in wheelchairs assume that the worldвЂ™s accessible,вЂќ Jen Whitestone said. Whitestone seems to crave normalcy, like a night out with friends or a seat in the regular student section at Nippert Stadium.Д«ut sheвЂ™s also sacrificed some of her regular life for her cause, and that seems to be the way she wants it, said her mother, Jen Whitestone. ThatвЂ™s why they call it the invisible illness.вЂќ If I wasnвЂ™t in this chair, you wouldnвЂ™t think there was anything wrong with me. She gives herself injections every day, and a nurse comes to her off-campus apartment once a week to inject more medicine. Whitestone struggles with daily tasks that most students take for granted, and sometimes that gets her down.

Cliff whitestone bus driver huntr