After deciding that getting an electric wheelchair was what she wanted most Nikita Scott (19), of Atlantis, set about making it happen.
“I will do whatever it takes to get an electric wheelchair,” Scott told Facebook vlogger Tashreek Dolley of Drives with Ricky.
Dolley said Scott had contacted Drives with Ricky to share her life story in July. He said everything changed for this young paraplegic singer after their live chat.
Scott told the vlogger she urgently needed an electric wheelchair so “her voice can be heard” and desperately wanted to become more mobile.
A new wheelchair costs anything between R20 000 and R60 000 – money her family simply could not afford.
Scott told Weskus Nuus she was left badly injured in a car accident at 17 during a lift home with a friend.
“I remember sitting at the red robot in the car and then another car came speeding and swerving towards where we were standing and hit us,” she related.
“My friend was hurt but before that, when barely conscious, I recall sirens and people calling for help.
“I woke up in hospital after a two-week-long coma, and I found I was paralysed from my hips down.”
Scott said her dream of becoming a professional singer was shattered. She soon developed depression.
“I couldn’t even continue with school because I was diagnosed with functional disorder, when brain and body are not in sync.”
Despite the accident she wants to pursue her singing career. Scott decided it was time to sing again.
“With so many challenges, my parents had to carry me on stage when I take part in shows or competitions, so I needed to be more mobile.”
An anonymous good Samaritan gifted Scott with a brand-new chair worth R36 000 on Wednesday 18 August after seeing her story in a tabloid.
“It’s so exciting! I can fold the chair,” she said. “It can be charged, I can control the speed, it has a hooting device which is cool.”
Scott said the new wheelchair will open doors for her and her career. “I went to a shop for the first time. . . alone!” she told Weskus Nuus.
She may well have lost her ability to walk, but her voice can now be heard.
“What is really special to me is that I can now help myself, I don’t need to call anyone to assist me,” she says proudly.
