Johanna Calderon's harrowing journey on 'Podcast On Wheels' reveals a world of bureaucratic nightmares and terrifying street encounters stemming from her reliance on a power wheelchair. Calderon exposes the painfully slow process of getting repairs and replacements, noting how friends with Kaiser insurance waited five to ten years for a new chair, while she spent two years trying to replace a faulty unit that constantly died, leaving her stranded late at night, unable to get home from a hill until 3:00 AM. She is frequently forced to use uncomfortable "loner" chairs while waiting for repairs, one of which was so small her pants constantly rode down, leading a stranger in a laundromat to point out that her "butt crack is showing". Beyond the bureaucratic hell, Calderon details multiple alarming incidents where she was struck by vehicles, including when a "big ass lunch drug" scraped her arm at age 17, and later, when a car almost "flipped me over" near a CVS. Though advised she could have sued, she was too "in shock" to seek money after one accident. She defiantly rejects the fear-based advice of a friend's father who thought she should be kept "in prison at home" due to her chair, stressing that despite chairs that flip over from hitting a small rock, she is determined to maintain her independence and travel the world.

Music by: bensound.com
License code: 3AGMSVJLJ9E8BQIW
Artist: : Nick Petrov, Against All Odds

This block of radio was produced at East Los Angeles College's Media Arts Department for KELA Radio.

The views expressed in this show are those of the authors and do not reflect the official stance of East Los Angeles College.