Short Story
Karen Mostert, Sean Kristafor and Wayne Gallow, are raising funds for a public beach wheelchair for East London situated at Nahoon Beach, to create a way for anyone with mobility impairment to be able to enjoy the beach, including wheelchair users and the elderly.
Karen and Ingrid are sisters who have always loved going to the beach. When a car accident in 2020 left Ingrid in a wheelchair, going to the beach became a greater challenge.
Karen, never one to stop problem solving, decided to look into getting a beach wheelchair, as the big plastic wheels would make getting across the soft sand much easier. She then realized there was an opportunity to make this resource available to the greater community, and shifted to working on a project to make this a publicly available wheelchair, stationed at Nahoon Beach Surf Lifesavers shack.
We encourage everyone in the greater East London area to support this worthwhile cause and make this a reality.
We have partnered with EduSport Youth, a local non profit in East London.
Beach wheelchair for lives
Supported so far by 58 people.
Story
Everyone enjoys going to the beach on a warm summer’s day. Many people take this privilege for granted. For a large and ever-increasing segment of the population who struggle with mobility, going to the beach is a real challenge and often not possible, as traditional wheelchairs and walking aids are not soft sand friendly.
Karen has been joined in this project by Sean Kristafor, who is a strong willed and determined stroke survivor. Wayne Gallow is the third person to join this project. He is a member of the open water swimming community in East London. In 2020 he suffered a severe spinal cord injury, breaking his neck in a motorcycle accident, which left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair for months. He subsequently made a remarkable recovery and has always been inspired to assist in projects of this nature, and hence the campaign ‘Beach Wheelchairs for Lives’ was born. The project is well supported by both the local municipality (Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality) as well the East London surf lifesavers club.
Should this fundraising initiative gain enough traction Karen, Sean and Wayne are looking at purchasing a second beach wheelchair for children and an amphibious unit for water entry.
The non profit that we have partnered with is EduSport Youth.
EduSport Youth (ESY) is a youth mentoring organisation that strives to provide educational and sporting opportunities to underserved youth from Mdantsane and other low-income communities. EduSport trains, equips and provides employment for local unemployed youth in order to bring educational and sporting opportunities to primary school learners.
