I’m Disabled — Not Luggage

Written by Andrew Gurza / Illustration by Sophie Lucido Johnson

I’m a wheelchair-user and I remember going into the ER and asking the nursing staff to get a Hoyer lift (i.e. a sling lift) to safely transfer me in a bed. They told me “no” and that they would just lift me instead. I asked politely again, multiple times. They didn't get a Hoyer lift, and instead, four nurses picked me up without my consent. I was screaming “no!” the whole time. When I was finally put in the bed, the nurses called me a "combative patient.”

Written by Andrew Gurza who wrote a book called Notes From A Queer Cripple.

Illustration by Sophie Lucido Johnson who runs a wonderful Substack called You Are Doing A Good Enough Job.