Wheelchair-bound British beautician launches accessible salon

[webfact]

 

In a remarkable display of resilience, the British beautician, who was paralysed following a balcony fall in Thailand, has launched a pioneering new salon where accessibility is not merely a feature but a guiding principle.

 

Struggling to access conventional beauty treatments after her life-altering accident, Maddi Neale-Shankster envisioned a haven where wheelchair users and the able-bodied could share the same space without feeling like a burden.

 

“There’s absolutely nothing that’s ever gonna stop me from getting my lashes done and having a sunbed.”

The catalyst for the 22 year old British beautician’s venture was a chilling experience attempting to use a sunbed, where she found herself dependent on a friend’s assistance and facing restrictive conditions. Determined to rewrite this narrative, the young beautician set out to create a sanctuary where everyone feels accepted, regardless of their physical abilities.

The Coventry-born beauty specialist’s purpose-built salon boasts wider nail desks, spacious rooms, and gently sloping ramps for seamless accessibility.

 

“I didn’t fit in the toilet, I didn’t fit down the corridor, I didn’t fit in the nail desk.”

 

Such challenges fuelled her commitment to crafting a space where everyone feels not just accommodated but celebrated, reported BBC News.

 

Moreover, the Neale-Shankster’s salon is not just about beauty, it’s about making a difference. Through a charity raffle, she has raised funds for spinal research, underscoring her dedication to improving the lives of others facing similar challenges.

 

ORIGINAL STORY: ‘Rave for Maddi’ raises £5000 for British woman after balcony fall in Thailand

 

A charity fundraising event entitled ‘Rave for Maddi’ held in Coventry, England, raised 200,000 baht (£5000) to help the recovery of the young British woman who fell from a second-floor balcony in Koh Pha Ngan in southern Thailand on New Year’s Eve.

A GoFundMe appeal raised over 3 million baht (£73,500) from over 1,400 donors to pay for 21 year old Maddi Neale-Shankster’s transfer to the UK assisted by a team of specialist medical assistants.

 

After undergoing surgery in Thailand, Maddi returned to England around three weeks ago where she will undergo a lengthy rehabilitation process to recover from a fractured spine, two collapsed lungs and pierced liver. The goal is for Maddi to start walking again.

 

Nightclub promoters in Maddi’s hometown, Coventry, decided to throw a big party called ‘Rave for Maddi’ at the HMV EMPIRE on January 28 to raise funds to cover Maddi’s living costs until she can hopefully walk again and return to work.

 

The event was a booming success with 500 attendees and raised around £5000 to help Maddi in the immediate future.

 

In total, 35 local musicians and artists joined forces to put on the show which just shows how much the young beautician is supported by her local community.

 

Maddi flew to Thailand with her partner for a three-week dream holiday. But after ringing in the new year on the party island, things took a turn for the worse when she fell from a second-floor balcony.

 

To make matters worse, Maddi was pickpocketed earlier on in the night, said her mother Karen.

 

Karen flew out to Thailand to be by her side while she had fluid pumped out of her chest and underwent urgent back surgery.

 

Maddi took out travel insurance however it only covered 10,000 baht (£247), not £10,000, as she thought.

 

Yesterday, another young English tourist made headlines after getting into a serious accident on the same Thai island.

Emma Lewis, a 24 year old student from Basingstoke in Hampshire, was driving a moped through Koh Pha Ngan when she lost control and drove through a glass window. Glass shattered all over her leaving her in need of 56 stitches.

 

Luckily for Emma, her insurance paid out and reimbursed her 800,000 baht (£20,000) in medical bills.

 

Photo of Samantha Rose

Photo courtesy of BBC News

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-03-08

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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[flyingtlger]

The world needs more people like Maddi!

 

 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

The world needs more people like Maddi!

 

 

Thailand needs more disabled facilities, plus pavements that are safe.

[Pouatchee]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Thailand needs more disabled facilities, plus pavements that are safe.

 

totally agree. and schools also need to adapt their facilities. 

 

[brianthainess]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Maddi flew to Thailand with her partner for a three-week dream holiday. But after ringing in the new year on the party island, things took a turn for the worse when she fell from a second-floor balcony.

 🤐🤐🤐  + 

[soalbundy]

Courage, determination and empathy for others is sorely missing these days (guilty as charged). This young women showed all these qualities instead of falling into depression and feeling sorry for herself, well done little fighter, hope you get to walk again.

[brianthainess]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Thailand needs more disabled facilities, plus pavements that are safe.

But this is not where she will open her salon. Many Banks here have no wheelchair access, unless in a mall. 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

But this is not where she will open her salon. Many Banks here have no wheelchair access, unless in a mall. 

Agreed my local main bank has a very impressive entrance, climb up around 20 steps to the doors

[brianthainess]

24 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Agreed my local main bank has a very impressive entrance, climb up around 20 steps to the doors

I don't know how I will get my bank letter and statement for immigration when I become unable to climb those forking stairs, Doubt they will come down to the basement car park.

[john donson]

too much go fund me cash can make you do things like that...

[PETERTHEEATER]

57 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I don't know how I will get my bank letter and statement for immigration when I become unable to climb those forking stairs, Doubt they will come down to the basement car park.

Come to Hua Hin Immigration. They have access ramps for wheelchair users but only if you have a rack-and-pinion model.🙄

[brianthainess]

4 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Come to Hua Hin Immigration. They have access ramps for wheelchair users but only if you have a rack-and-pinion model.🙄

At least they do have disabled access ramps, unlike most banks.

[Goat]

8 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Thailand needs more disabled facilities, plus pavements that are safe.

Thailand takes care of their disabled well, even if the pavements are not good for abled or disabled. It is called personal responsibility, something that has been forgotten in the litigation mad west.

Here they give them training and jobs.

 

Thai law requires public and private organisations to hire one disabled person for every 100 employees under Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities Quality of Life Promotion Act BE 2550 

 

Self esteem and independence, far outweighs wheelchair access to places they are unlikely to ever visit.

Smart people the Thais.

[richard_smith237]

30 minutes ago, Goat said:

Thailand takes care of their disabled well, even if the pavements are not good for abled or disabled. It is called personal responsibility, something that has been forgotten in the litigation mad west.

Here they give them training and jobs.

 

Given the ridiculousness of some of your other threads I wonder if you are living in the same place. 

How someone can see things so very very differently....

 

Thailand most certinly does not take care of its disabled well... .   It could be argued the disabled of Thailand are treated with complete ignorance.

 

We see the types of disabled people when out and about:

1 - The Wealthy disabled - with helpers assistants etc 

2 - The Independent foreign disabled - strong enough to get around on their own

3 - The disabled beggars

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, Goat said:

Thai law requires public and private organisations to hire one disabled person for every 100 employees under Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities Quality of Life Promotion Act BE 2550 

 

The law states motorcyclists must wear a helmet too - I think that covers how useless laws are and how empty quoting a law is in this case. 

 

30 minutes ago, Goat said:

Self esteem and independence, far outweighs wheelchair access to places they are unlikely to ever visit.

 

WRONG - you have no idea who wants to visit which places and can't project on behalf of the disabled.... If someone has no wheelchair access, its impossible to tell if disabled want to go there or not.

 

I agree with self-esteem and independence.... but Thailand does not offer that for the disabled...  If you are unable to see that, your observational skills fall more into 'wishful thinking' than anything you have factually observed.  

 

 

30 minutes ago, Goat said:

Smart people the Thais.

 

Erm...  Agreed, but not with the example you provide which is not an example at all... You seem to justify that places are not wheelchair accessible because Thai's determine no one in a wheel-chair would want to go to such an area, and thus the Thai's are smart for making such a decision.... 

 

Thats not smart at all... that just completely naive of you to have such an idea. 

 

 

Try and get around with a push-chair, on crutches, or in a wheel chair and you'll see how far off the mark you really are. 

Edited March 8 by richard_smith237

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, Goat said:

Thailand takes care of their disabled well, even if the pavements are not good for abled or disabled. It is called personal responsibility, something that has been forgotten in the litigation mad west.

Here they give them training and jobs.

 

Thai law requires public and private organisations to hire one disabled person for every 100 employees under Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities Quality of Life Promotion Act BE 2550 

 

Self esteem and independence, far outweighs wheelchair access to places they are unlikely to ever visit.

Smart people the Thais.

[brianthainess]

3 hours ago, Goat said:

Thailand takes care of their disabled well, even if the pavements are not good for abled or disabled. It is called personal responsibility, something that has been forgotten in the litigation mad west.

Here they give them training and jobs.

 

Thai law requires public and private organisations to hire one disabled person for every 100 employees under Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities Quality of Life Promotion Act BE 2550 

 

Self esteem and independence, far outweighs wheelchair access to places they are unlikely to ever visit.

Smart people the Thais.

How would they get to work in a wheelchair? TTBOMK all UK businesses must have wheelchair accesses.

[richard_smith237]

39 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

How would they get to work in a wheelchair? TTBOMK all UK businesses must have wheelchair accesses.

 

At one of Bangkok's top Hospitals...      (sporting leg injury)...   In a wheelchair to get around the hospital. 

 

Some of the ramps are too steep to push myself up (in the wheelchair) with any ease.... Also, too steep to go down safely (wife pushing me, nearly lost control down a down slope which appeared steep). 

 

I don't think they use the same 'safety standards' and ramp steepness that the UK is regulated to... 

 

This surprises me that even in a hospital such obvious gaps in wheelchair access can be identified in a single visit....  

 

What does this tell me ??.....      It tells me that the issues for disabled people are not taken seriously here in Thailand, even at a top tier hospital...  Of course, the hospital circumnavigates this by having porters everywhere to assist which is great, but the underlying issues 'bypassed' rather than resolved. 

 

 

 

 

[brianthainess]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Of course, the hospital circumnavigates this by having porters everywhere to assist which is great,

So why winge about it?

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

6 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Of course, the hospital circumnavigates this by having porters everywhere to assist which is great,

So why winge about it?

 

erm....  sorry fella, I can't understand it for you and there's no magic pill that can help with your reading comprehension...  but, if you were to give Adderall a go... it might help you focus long enough to grasp the basic point.