Amputee Advantage

Approaching the polling booth at the Bourke Street Public School for the NSW Local Government elections, I overheard a couple of people speaking. “My friend told me she had to wait an hour, and there’s already a lengthy queue,” one of them said.

This filled me with a slight fear, having experienced a lower-limb amputation last year and still finding it difficult to get around from time to time.

Today, however, I experienced one of the advantages of having a lower limb prosthetic – skipping the long queue. I’m usually more than happy to wait my turn, but who wouldn’t say yes to being able to jump through the queue at an election day.

Normally, I like to vote early before the crowds appear, but by the time I was up and about this morning, things were quite busy.

Around 11 AM, I arrived at the polling booth, and there was already a queue stretching for what seemed like 500 meters.

I asked someone near the front how long the wait was, and he said it was probably 30 minutes, but that I could just walk right up to the front. So, that’s exactly what I did.

Skipping the lengthy queue, I approached the entrance and asked for assistance. The attendant looked down, saw my prosthetic leg, and immediately ushered me inside. We bypassed the queue and went straight into the voting booth, saving me at least 10 minutes, maybe even longer.

Next, I joined another queue to get my name ticked off and collect the ballot papers. Unfortunately, this was the slowest queue ever! There seemed to be some identification issues with the person ahead of me, so every other queue was moving much faster. It took about five minutes, but finally, I got my name ticked off, grabbed the forms, and went to vote.

The only thing that concerned me, mobility-wise, was the large number of people inside with small “yappy” dogs. Though they were on leashes, they still ran around a little bit, interacting with other dogs, and coming perilously close to knocking me over.

The voting booth itself was a little high for me, so I opted for the accessible booth.

Since Thursday, I’ve been wearing a new prosthetic socket and foot. The new socket has been quite tight, especially around the knee, which has been tough after months of wearing a loose-fitting socket.

Last night when I was out with friends, I spent a good part of the evening with my prosthetic leg removed, resting, trying to alleviate the pain. By the time I went to bed, I was exhausted – partly from the wine we shared, and partly from the discomfort of the new socket.

Now, it’s late Saturday afternoon, and I’m finally relaxing with a cup of coffee.