Wheelchair rugby athlete applauds 'awesome' UPEI initiative

P.E.I.'s Kristen Cameron, a member of the national wheelchair rugby team, is back on the Island Monday to celebrate a new level of accessibility at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Changes made on the campus, partly with the assistance of a Canada 150 grant, have earned the university a full mobile accessible designation from the group Access Advisor.

"I'm excited to come back and be a catalyst to celebrate what UPEI is doing," said Cameron.

"It's awesome that UPEI has taken the initiative to go out and apply and get one of these grants, because it's time the East Coast steps up their game a little bit Hopefully the Island sees this and starts to follow suit."

A changed perspective

Cameron was a highly-touted minor hockey player, and was developing a career as a college coach in the U.S., when in 2010 she was hit by a drunk driver and paralyzed from the chest down.

Before the accident, Cameron said she paid no attention to accessibility issues.

"My vantage point on it has certainly changed. Before my accident I certainly didn't go around noticing how steep a ramp was or whether a ramp was there at all or whether a curb cut was in the right spot," she said.

"But now it's second nature. Because you're in a chair you can only go where your wheels can take you."

Cameron will be the guest speaker at a ceremony Monday afternoon to mark the new designation.

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