Vickie Gauci has lost count of the countries she has been to, but every time she sets sight on a new place, she has to plan out every single detail of her trip.

They’d tell you, we’ll now load you on our wheelchair to transfer you to our plane... and you’d wonder whether you’ve turned into a suitcase

In 2003, Vickie, then 37, was getting out of a car when a motor coach came around the bend, the side door of its baggage compartment sprung open and sliced her spine in half. The split-second accident put Vickie into a wheelchair for life.

Ten years on she coordinates the Disability Studies Unit at the University of Malta, and is reading a PhD on how assistive technology helps disabled people at work.

She has come a long way, making the best of what she has instead of moping over what she lost. However, to date, Vickie is still struggling with details that most people take for granted but which make a world of a difference when it comes to her mobility.

“You could easily give up on travelling because there are so many shortcomings, but you have to make an effort,” she tells The Sunday Times of Malta.

From Sicily to Switzerland, Spain to Slovakia, Vickie has been all over Europe, travelling three times a year on holiday and job assignments.

One of the biggest travelling challenges she comes across is the change she has noticed in people’s attitude towards her since the accident.

“Before, no one took notice of me and I was just one of many others, but the wheelchair has made me more noticeable. Eventually you get used to people staring at you, but something which still annoys me is being treated in a patronising manner, as if I am a little girl.”

Insisting that service providers do their utmost when helping her travel from one place to another, and they all mean well, some are unaware of the way they address people with mobility issues.

“They’d tell you, we’ll now load you on our wheelchair to transfer you to our plane... and you’d wonder whether you’ve turned into a suitcase.

“On another occasion I asked whether I could stay in the aisle seat, instead of being transferred to the window seat. My friend, the only other person sitting on the same row, didn’t mind. But I was just told I couldn’t because of the other passengers’ safety.”

Vickie recently had to travel to Finland for a conference and needed to catch three planes both ways. Despite informing the staff in advance about her connection, during three out of these six trips she was made to wait for a long time until help was provided.

“It was terrible, and I felt awkward getting aboard the plane under the stare of passengers who were waiting on us and who knew we were the cause of the delay,” she says.

But travelling challenges for Vickie do not stop when she gets off the plane.

Booking a hotel involves a lot of planning. Despite adverts that hotels are wheelchair accessible, Vickie has resorted to sending the required width of doorways and pathways so that she can manoeuvre her wheelchair.

“Some five years ago we booked a wheelchair-accessible hotel in Switzerland, only to find out, once there, that although the bathroom was accessible on the inside, the doorway was too narrow for a wheelchair.

Even taking a simple shower proves challenging, and Vickie always takes a huge plastic bag with her to cover her wheelchair and avoid getting it wet, just in case there is nothing she can sit on.

Despite her independence and wish to travel abroad alone, these glitches discourage her.

Once out of the hotel, Vickie has to face cobbled pavements, uneven sidewalks and inaccessible shops. She once spent two hours looking for an accessible restaurant in Brussels. Sometimes, when travelling with her husband John, she ditches airplanes and trains, and travels by ferry and car. She can even use her blue badge in EU countries to park in spaces reserved for people with disabilities.

“It makes life easier. When using public transport, you have to call beforehand to let them know you need assistance, like setting up ramps to get off a train.”

Even in London, most of the underground stations are inaccessible, so the couple rent a car or take the bus. But Vickie never knows whether the bus ramp will be spread out just in front of a pole or other street furniture, making it difficult for her to get off the bus safely. “I have always found help and I am always served well. It is just the attitude that comes with the service... addressing me instead of those accompanying me about issues related to me could be a starting point. I always feel like saying: ‘Hello, I’m here’,” she says, waving her hand, laughing.

“This happens to people with intellectual difficulties as well. We can never feel equal if we are not addressed. Adapting your environment and installing specific equipment might cost money, but it does not cost anything to address people with more dignity. This is a right, not charity.”

Apart from learning to live with incontinence and pain, Vickie had to face other challenges following the accident:

Financial – She needed a lot of adaptive equipment and had to carry out alterations at her parents’ home and then her own.

However, she found help from friends, family, the National Commission Persons with Disability and the Malta Community Chest Fund.

Attitudinal – She had to adapt to her new body image.

“People treat you differently when you are sitting in a wheelchair: some are patronising, some talk over your head and others assume you are dependent on other people like your husband.”

Environmental – Vickie soon realised she could be more independent if shops, restaurants and roads were more wheelchair-friendly, if people did not leave rubbish bags blocking kerbs and if cafes did not place their tables and chairs on the pavement, blocking access.

Unfortunately new places are still being built with steps and no alternative entrance.

The Sunday Times of Malta is telling the stories of people with disabilities who are overcoming societal barriers. These monthly articles are not aimed at depicting these people as ‘super heroes’, but at helping society out there understand the needs and concerns of the 34,600 disabled people in Malta who are often hindered by lack of accessibility and understanding. Anyone who has a story to share can contact ccalleja@timesofmalta.com.