Urban Cripple

Are Newly‐Disabled Peoples’ Lives “Ruined”?

Jul 06, 2018

I’m able‐bodied so I guess I’m asking out of curiosity or ignorance. In Punisher, there is a veteran named Curt with a prosthetic leg and long story short, the main character admits that his negligence helped caused Curt’s disability by saying “Curt said I saved his life, but I know I ruined it.” How do you feel about disabled people or amputees having the media claim their lives are ruined? (I know you’re in a wheelchair, which is different from a prosthetic, but I thought you’d have insight.)

My thought is fairly straight forward here:

Can going from being able‐bodied to being not able‐bodied ruin someone’s life? Abso‐fucking‐lutely.

Is said life‐ruining caused strictly by the fact that someone goes from being able‐bodied to being disabled? Nope. Getting seriously injured is expensive. Getting better is even more expensive. Staying healthy after the fact is super expensive.

Finances, health issues (after the initial injury), a lack of a support network, a lack of a plan in terms of how to cope and move forward. All of this shit can be life ruining.

However, it’s not up to the media to decide what constitutes a life‐ruining scenario or not when it comes to disability. When the media says “This person’s life was ruined after their injury” what they’re really saying is “This person’s body no longer meets our standards for beauty and or usefulness and now we must switch from demanding they sell their labor to demanding they accept our pity in a society that will automatically exclude them due to their difference”.

The most harmful thing a society can do to a person is judge their inherit value without their consent.