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May 14, 2008 7:03 pm US/Eastern
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Broken Wheelchair & Red Tape Debilitates Girl
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
There's a little girl in the Bronx who hasn't been able to go to school or leave her apartment for over a month, all because of a broken wheelchair and a lot of red tape.
Stephanie Ocana is 11-years-old, and has cerebral palsy. Normally, she's very independent with the help of her power wheelchair, but everything changed when it broke down.
In March, Stephanie and her father were returning home from the grocery store when the frame broke and the wheel fell off. Now, she's stuck at home, unable to go to school because her back up manual wheelchair is also broken with no treads or brakes. She's only able to use it inside the apartment with her dad's help.
"I miss school a lot, now I want to go back to school," said Stephanie.
"She really does cry everytime she sees kids on the t.v. I have to change it, because she starts crying, she gets cranky...She says she wants to go to the park, she wants to do something. It hurts me because I can't take her out," said Stephanie's father, Eladio Diaz.
Diaz was told it would take just a couple weeks to get the power wheelchair fixed, but it's now been nearly 2 months, and it's still at Rehabco. The head of the company says the medical reimbursement system is to blame, because of all the paperwork that is required to get anything fixed.
"It's really tragic. She's not the only individual with these problems. There are hundreds of people who can not get necessary services within a timely manner," said Jeff Offner of Rehabco.
Meanwhile, Stephanie has had to improvise on ways to get around the apartment on her own. She's now using a skateboard to regain a little more freedom, but tells CBS 2 her power wheelchair makes her feel as free as a bird.
"I'm flying, I'm flying. I just look at the sky," said Stephanie.
She's hoping to experience that feeling again before school is out next month. The head of Rehabco says he plans to expedite the work on Stephanie's wheelchair and says she should have it within a few days.
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