'Everybody needs to help': Londoners with disabilities call for better accessibility in snow

Londoners with physical disabilities are calling on the city and community to make sure streets and sidewalks are easier to navigate in the snow. 

Icy sidewalks and snow piles along street curbs are just some of the challenges people with mobility disabilities said they face in the wintertime. 

"Walking is always going to be difficult, even if you're using a walker or wheelchair," said Madeline Goldhawk, who has a rare disorder that causes a lack of balance and coordination. "When it's very deep outside, it's very hard to put my walker into the snow."

London was blasted with snow squalls this week, causing school closures and long commutes, but the cold weather is more than a nuisance for people with disabilities, said Madeline's mother, Jody Goldhawk.

"We're always thinking about how [Madeline's] going to get to certain places and the snow just puts an extra wrench into it," Jody said. "I'm also worrying about her safety, like is she going to fall in the snow or ice, is she going to be OK, is she going to get stuck in a snow bank somewhere?"

LISTEN: Walking through snow with a physical disability

The unknowns around snow accessibility lead some people with disabilities to stay home, said Jeff Preston, an associate professor of disability studies at King's University College.

"I'm a bit like a bear: I go into hibernation in the winter," said Preston on CBC's London Morning. "I just hang out inside for a few months."

Londoners with disabilities said they have to plan ahead when going out in the winter weather. 

"I carry a shovel with me," said Penny Moore, who uses an electric wheelchair.

She said sidewalks are the most difficult thing to navigate, since they are often unplowed, plowed too narrowly for the width of a wheelchair or icy.

"In a wheelchair, it's similar to a car," Moore said. "Sometimes depending on how wet the snow is, if it sticks to my wheels, my wheels will be spinning in the same spot or sometimes the chair will spin in a circle."

There is also the challenge of snow piles, Moore said, which are often pushed to sidewalk intersections and hard to get over. 

"Depending on how much the snow is cleared to the curb, we may end up in the middle of the road," she said, adding that driving on the street is sometimes the only option.