First-time wheelchair user feared being a 'burden' on her school trip — until the teacher's reply changed everything
Always afraid to ask for help, Anne now understands there's no harm in it. 'We are supposed to be burdens,' she confessed.
When Sydney Anne (@the.annegirl on Instagram) was first approached for a 16-hour-long field trip, she immediately refused. In a video posted on March 20, she explained that being wheelchair-ridden, she knew she would need volunteers to help her climb the mountains. Anne wasn't really comfortable with that. Deep down, she didn’t want to trouble anyone or be a "burden" on her classmates. However, when Anne shared her inhibitions with her history teacher, he convinced her to go on the trip, and his heartfelt response changed her perspective on life.
Responding to Anne's inhibitions about being a "burden," the history teacher said, "Well... you will need to get over that." No words of consolation or false promises.
He told Anne not to restrict herself to life experiences because of her physical limitations. While he genuinely understood her concerns about being a burden, he wanted her to see life beyond them. Overwhelmed, Anne agreed to accompany her class on the trip — and it's safe to say it turned out to be the best decision of her life. Volunteers, basically her friends and classmates, went above and beyond to help Anne enjoy the trip like everybody else.
At every stop, they unloaded her wheelchair, set it up, and placed her on it. In fact, towards the end, the mountain was so "steep and rocky" that four volunteers had to carry Anne with her wheelchair along the way, but nobody complained.
"I was an actual, literal burden. Yet when students were asked what the highlight of the field trip was, many of them said, 'Getting Sydney up the mountains,'" Anne confessed. That single incident changed how she looked at herself. The girl who was afraid to ask for help now understands there's no harm in it. "We are supposed to be burdens — meaningful, wonderful, messy, and beautiful burdens that are carried by some, and who carry others," she explained in her post.
Moreover, Anne's history teacher explained to her that by refusing help, she was depriving others of the blessings of helping her, and that made all the difference in her life. "True gratitude in accepting help is almost always more of a blessing than a fearful, insecure, controlling, 'no,'" she confessed.
Unlike Anne, not every disabled individual is surrounded by supportive people. In fact, as shocking as it sounds, according to a survey, 40% of people with disabilities reported experiencing unfair treatment in one of these three settings: healthcare, work, or while applying for benefits.
Forget society; sometimes, discrimination stems from within the closest circle. For instance, a study across 3,800 working-age Americans with disabilities found that while a 30% respondents often felt a lack of companionship, 34% felt isolated, and 29% felt like they were left out because of their limitations. Notably, these rates are much higher than among people without disabilities, the study noted.
Meanwhile, reacting to the heartfelt story, @fiishiing commented, "We are meant to rely on each other to carry us where we can't go alone. Usually it's metaphorical; sometimes it's literal. All relationships are give and take, and if we don't take help, we don't allow others to give it." @crazy.train95 shared, "Letting people help is hard when you're used to doing everything on your own, but yeah, there are people out there that'll gladly help; we all suffer, but that doesn't mean we can't help someone else suffer a little less by just being kind."
Similarly, @lauralinka.Sacramento wrote, "When I'm stressed, I go to work and get to help our lovely customers, and it always makes me feel better. Giving aid is truly more rewarding than receiving aid, so yeah, let people help you. It will help them feel better about themselves. They have one moment in the day where they were useful, effective, appreciated, and got to be the good guy."
You can follow Sydney Anne (@the.annegirl) on Instagram for more lifestyle content.
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