For 57-year-old Karen Gordon from Massachusetts, Ocean Park in Old Orchard Beach is a special place. She’s spent summer vacations at the beachside community since she was 2 years old. But it had been about five years since she had been in the ocean.
Gordon has multiple sclerosis, and navigating the sands of the beach to get to the shore was too much of a challenge in recent years.
Gordon’s son was getting married July 15, and the extended family planned to spend time together that week at their favorite beach. Thanks to a floating beach wheelchair donated to the Ocean Park Association earlier this summer, Gordon was able to get out on the beach and join in on the family fun.
The Mobi-Chair was donated by SMILE Mass, a Massachusetts based nonprofit that provides recreational experiences for adults and children with disabilities. SMILE Mass was founded by two women who were both mothers of children with disabilities.
The organization had donated 120 floating beach wheelchairs in Massachusetts when it branched out to Maine and donated chairs in Wells and Ocean Park in June. The chairs are equipped with large tires that can take on sandy terrain much better than a standard wheelchair.
The floating beach chair has been available for people to borrow for free through the Ocean Park Association.
Ocean Park Association member Frank Gwalthney said the chair has been used regularly this summer, with most people borrowing it for a week.
He said those who have used the floating wheelchair have been very appreciative, and it has been received enthusiastically by commenters on a private Ocean Park Facebook page.
“What a godsend,” Gwalthney said.
For Gordon, who, in her younger years enjoyed walking along the shore and making the trek down to The Pier and back, was thrilled for the opportunity to use the floating chair.
“I loved it,” she said.
Instead of viewing from afar, she was able to join in on activities on the beach, get in the water, watch family members play beach bocce and go down to Goosefare Brook where her mother’s ashes were scattered nine years ago.