Going to a gym can be a little intimidating. Trying to figure out how all that equipment works is overwhelming if you’re new. Now, imagine you aren’t new to a gym but equipment is still a barrier. Noelle Walker has the story of how one man helped change that.
73-year-old Terry Lewis goes to the Bedford Center YMCA 3 days a week to work out and stay strong.
"I was always a gym rat," Lewis said. "I knew it was important to stay in shape."
For the last 14 years, that's been more true than ever.
"Motorcycle accident," Lewis said, referring to why he uses a wheelchair now. He hit a deer riding his Harley 14 years ago. "Motorcycle landed on me, deer landed on the motorcycle, so about 14-hundred pounds coming down on my chest, broke 8 ribs and my back in 2-places."
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The accident left Lewis paralyzed, using a wheelchair to get around. It might have slowed him a little, but it hasn't stopped Lewis.
"I always focus on what I can do instead of what I can't do," Lewis said.
When Lewis joined the Bedford Center YMCA shortly after it opened, he realized there were difficulties getting in a workout.
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"There was really no machines that I could work with to where I wouldn't have to transfer out of my chair," Lewis said, pointing out all the equipment had built-in seats. "And if I transfer into that built-in seat, I could miss, fall, and it's just a bad situation."
Not just for Terry, but for anyone else who might need assistance transferring to a piece of equipment. So Lewis became a 'polite' squeaky wheel.
"When I make noise about the wheelchair community, I don't feel like I'm complaining. I'm just bringing a problem to light that maybe nobody really felt or understood because they can't walk a mile in my shoes, so to speak."
"That most important piece for me in living our mission is that 'for all' piece," Bedford Center YMCA Executive Director Carolanne Dunaway said. "So being able to include everybody, integrate everybody, without being exclusive."
That's why Lewis researched the need and wheelchair accessible equipment. The Y applied for grants, which were denied. Then the City of Bedford stepped in to help pay for The Equalizer, a multifunctional wheelchair-accessible weight machine, leveling the workout field.
"It's more about knowing that we have a solution for a problem that other people may not have realized was a problem," Dunaway said. "It may have only impacted Terry that week, but now it's impacting many people who are able to use this equipment."
"It makes me feel good," Lewis said. "Makes me feel like I've done something."
