For many people in Western Massachusetts, being active outdoors, whether it’s biking, hiking or paddling, is an important part of life. For people with disabilities, outdoor recreation can be challenging, but it can also be life-changing.
This is also the case with 50-year-old Sugihara Manami.
“I did a lot of hiking. I did some rock climbing and kayaking. I also went rafting,” she said.
She still kayaks and hits the trails, and she also plays pickleball.
On a recent day at Look Park in Northampton, she made her way onto the court in a wheelchair, pushing a second chair, called a court chair, which requires some maneuvering to get in.
“We put brakes on the wheelchair,” she says, “so that I could push the wheelchair up, hold the handles, and then with a little movement of my feet I could collapse into the wheelchair.”
Then she uses her hands to lift one foot at a time onto the footrest of the court chair.
For her, the effort has been worth it: The wheelchair has cambered wheels to give her greater agility, speed and control on the court.
She was playing against non-disabled staff and volunteers as part of a game organized by an organization called All Out Adventures, while a few newcomers in wheelchairs were playing on another court.
“It’s really fun to be back on the court,” said Sugihara, who played tennis in high school and college.
All Out Adventures volunteer Mike Brezniak plays pickleball with Amy Sugihara on May 30, 2024 in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Nancy Eve Cohen NEPM
But it wasn’t always this way: About eight years ago, she was diagnosed with a degenerative disease, and now she gets around using forearm crutches, a wheelchair, or a walking aid like a walker.
It took me a while to figure things out.
“It wasn’t physical pain, but mental pain. It was really hard and confusing,” Sugihara said. “It’s terrible to lose the ability to move your body, so I tried to ignore it for a long time.”
Her world has shrunk, she said.
“I stopped doing these things because I couldn’t do them, and I had no idea what it was like, like, how could I participate in different sports and activities with a disability,” she said. “And I was still dealing with my own perception: ‘Oh my God, I have a disability?’
But now she’s active again, and for her it’s more than just sports.
“Not only does it really change the moment – and the moment is wonderful and amazing – but it ripples out from there and makes me feel like I have agency, it makes me feel uplifted, it stabilizes me. It changes everything,” Sugihara said.
Sugihara is chair of the Northampton Committee for People with Disabilities. She was one of about 20 people who recently gathered at the Fort River Access Trail at the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge in Hadley to advocate for legislation to increase access trails on state lands. These types of trails are hard-packed, usually with a gentle slope and free of obstacles like rocks or roots.
Massachusetts State Senator Joe Comerford and Northampton artist Meg Bandara speak to supporters of the Trails for All Act, a bill Comerford proposed to evaluate accessible trails in Massachusetts, at the Fort River Birding and Nature Trail in Hadley on June 1, 2024.
Nancy Eve Cohen NEPM
Northampton landscape artist Meg Bandara addressed the group at the trailhead.
“These trails are life-changing,” Bandara said. “When it comes to providing everyone with access to nature, Massachusetts’ current trail system falls sadly short.”
Bandara is leading the effort to pass the Trails for All Act, sponsored by Massachusetts Senator Joe Comerford, which would create a task force to evaluate the trails currently available in the state and find funding sources to build more.
“Without that full understanding, we can’t take action. We can’t ask for investment. We can’t make a strategic plan to change this situation,” Comerford said as we walked the trail.
The bill currently heads to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
Meg Bandara, Steve Bandara and Amy Sugihara traversed the Fort River Birding and Nature Trail on June 1, 2024. This passable trail is part of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge in Hadley, Massachusetts.
Nancy Eve Cohen NEPM
The Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Universal Access Program has spent $183,000 on recreation programs in fiscal year 2024. Additionally, the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation awarded $167,000 this spring for inclusive and accessible outdoor recreation events across the state.
The state Department of Fisheries and Wildlife has accessible fishing areas in addition to accessible fishing spots in state parks and forests.
Northampton-based All Out Adventures is one of the largest outdoor vendors in DCR’s Universal Access Program. The company also received funding from the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission this year. The company operates more than 200 outdoor recreation programs throughout Massachusetts annually.
The group also offers stand-up paddling and seated cross-country skiing, said executive director Karen Foster.
Her team meets people where they are, she said.
“One of the things that unites all of our staff in the program is that we all say, ‘Yes,’ so we look at the individual and see what they need to be able to participate today,” Foster said.
Other organizations run outdoor programs for people with disabilities on the Connecticut River in Springfield and Holyoke.
An Adaptive Rowing Scull sits docked on a pier next to the Connecticut River at Holyoke Row’s Boathouse in Holyoke, Mass. The boat has a racing car seat that doesn’t slip like most scull seats, and a small pontoon for added stability.
Nancy Eve Cohen NEPM
On a recent morning, Stephanie Moore, executive director of Holyoke Rows, which contracts with DCR to run the adaptive programming, pointed to one of the boats equipped with special seating.
“This is an adaptive seat in a luxury race car,” Moore said.
Most of these boats, called sculls, have a sliding, flat seat that is stationary and has a backrest and lumbar support that hugs the paddler. These sleek boats have pontoons on each side to keep the boat upright.
“The nice thing about putting adaptive rowers in skinny racing boats is that they can go fast,” Moore says. “Ten years ago, we put adaptive rowers in boats that were very wide, very stable, very safe, but they couldn’t go fast because they weren’t using their whole body like other rowers. So this was a breakthrough.”
Joanna Whitney, 64, a retired archaeologist, rows here about twice a week, using her arms and torso to propel herself through the water.
“This really speaks to what I’m capable of, not that it’s hard for me, and the staff here thinks that if I think I can do it, I probably can,” she said as she paddled upstream.
Joanna Whitney sits on a pier after rowing on the Connecticut River in Holyoke, Massachusetts, May 28, 2024. Whitney, who uses a wheelchair, said rowing has broadened her imagination about what people are capable of.
Nancy Eve Cohen NEPM
Whitney, who has muscular sclerosis and is wheelchair-bound, has paddled up to 14 kilometres in one go and said the course offered an opportunity to test his athletic ability without running into obstacles.
“You have to start learning what your body can do,” she says. “Do I have to accept that it’s all over, or is there a different way to do it? Rowing has really helped me do that.”
Whitney said the training has given her the mental and physical confidence to overcome land obstacles such as sidewalks in poor condition and to deal with people who she thinks need help.
Back on land, Whitney said rowing gives him a chance to figure things out for himself.
“When you’re out on the water, there’s no one there to help you. It’s really been a blessing to have that experience again and again. It’s taught me, ‘Oh, I can do this. I can solve this,’ and no matter what situation I’m in, I can solve it,” she said.
Whitney said rowing allows her to spend time alone, listening to the birds and watching the seasons change on the river, and that rowing has broadened her imagination of what humans are capable of.
Copyright 2024 88.5 NEPM