When Mila suffered a stroke 12 months ago, she thought she would never touch the sand and water again.

The central Queensland grandmother loves the ocean as “it’s very important” and she feels “power from the water”, but her recent mobility issues made reaching the water’s edge almost impossible.

Late last year disability access at Emu Park Main Beach was significantly improved, ramp access was extended with matting attached to it, and a beach wheelchair became available to hire.

It changed everything.

Mila, 72, recently used the wheelchair for a beach visit — her first since the stroke — and said she was very thankful for the opportunity.

“[The chair is] very easy-moving, very comfortable” she said.

“We go to [nearby] Yeppoon but we can’t go to the water.

Shane Hryhorec, chairperson of Accessible Beaches, was heavily involved in the planning of Emu Park’s facilities.

“I live with disability, [and] I find it very challenging when you go around Australia to regional areas, and they’ve got beautiful beaches, but when you find that they’re not accessible and inclusive, it’s does become pretty frustrating,” he said.

“It’s great that regional councils and communities are stepping up to make their beaches accessible.

“Also, it’s a really great drawcard for tourism.”

Getting started

Mr Hryhorec said there were a few things to consider when making a beach more inclusive, including making sure footpaths were wide enough, footpaths  sealed to amenities, and suitable changing facilities, including a hoist for people who couldn’t go the bathroom sitting upright and needed to be on a change table.

He said beach access paths, parking, as well as braille and tactile signage were important.

“We have a lot of councils reach out to Accessible Beaches and say, ‘We really want to make our beaches accessible; we’ve never done this before, how do we do that?’ and we literally work with them from step one,” Mr Hryhorec said.

Source
Katrina Beavan and Erin Semmler
ABC News