Quadriplegic’s journey to inspire disabled people

WATERFALL resident, Lachlan Nicholson, is off to Cape Town in March to test the provinces’s accessibility for disabled people and whether they can manage it.

He resigned from SACan in December 2015, as he felt it was time to move on.

The reason for his trip is to inspire people with disabilities. “Society has limited the idea of disabilities and my goal is to push people with disabilities to think and do beyond what their limits are,” said Lachlan.

Lachlan has cerebral palsy, which classifies him as a quadriplegic. This condition effects all his limbs, but through fitness training and taekwondo, Lachlan has become a lot more capable.

“I will also be training at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, as it is recognised as one of the top fitness centres in the country. I want to see how they can train a person with my condition,” said Lachlan.

Lachlan plans to live with his friend, Aly Verbaan (a renowned freelance journalist) in Cape Town. They plan to do everything a tourist does in Cape Town, from going up Table Mountain to visiting Robben Island and more, in wheelchairs.

During his two-month stay in Cape Town, Lachlan will be keeping a travel log, with daily reports of everything he does and every place he visits. He said he will also be updating his Facebook profile on all the activities he will be participating in.

“This will be my first visit to Cape Town, and also my first time flying solo, so I’m really looking forward to it,” said Lachlan.

Lachlan jets off to Cape Town on 10 March. You can follow his journey on Facebook. Upon his return, he hopes to have enough information and data collected from the journey to compile a book.