βNo, I wasnβt born in a wheelchair!β
28 February 2020
Emily Roberts is 21 and from Swansea. She's said she wants to share the ‘amazingness of being in a wheelchair’ and ‘show people that even though you may have a disability, life is awesome’.
Here, she responds to some of the most common things people say to her about being in a wheelchair…
“EMILY, WERE YOU BORN IN A WHEELCHAIR?”
Now, if you’ve asked me this I’m sorry, but I’ve laughed. What are you picturing when you asked me if I was born in my chair? Imagine how painful that birth would be! The doctors are all crowded round... all excited in anticipation.
‘Give me the forceps, the wheels are coming out first!’
I just wheel out the womb like... ta-da, I've arrived. NO!!!
“BUT EMILY, HOW DO YOU HAVE SEX?”
Let’s just take a minute to appreciate that.
‘How do you have sex?’
My reply to all of you nonchalant nymphomaniacs who ask me how I have sex… ASK YOUR PARENTS, LADS!
“EMILY, DO YOU WISH YOU COULD WALK?”
Three wishes? Walking is definitely not up there, lads!
I’ve been asked this about a million and two times and I’m only 21. Figure that one out! I understand why you’d ask but picture this… I’ve got a genie in a bottle… it’s coming out and then the genie says ‘So Emily, what are your three wishes?’
I want to live on a yacht, I want to find my soulmate, I want to sort my life out. Walking is definitely not up there, lads. It’s just not there!
“I’D LOVE TO SIT DOWN ALL DAY”
Without being too offensive and too rude… the type of person who says this to me, sits down on the regular. They iron sitting down, they’ve got a part-time desk job from 9-1, they watch 13 hours of TV a day before 3 o’clock and they see going to buy a sofa as a luxurious day out! You don’t want to be in a wheelchair Karen, you don’t want to be disabled. You just want to be lazy.
“HOW TALL ARE YOU?”
I don’t know, I don’t know how tall I am! Unless they’ve come up with a new tape measure on Wish that works when you sit down I’ve got no clue. I’ve got no clue!
I mean, looking at me… you’ve probably guessed, cos I’m quite petite you know, I’m quite small… you’ve probably worked out how tall I am.
But just to let everybody watching this know, I’ve done it for you, I've done the hard work, and… I’m 9ft!
No, I Wasn't Born In A Wheelchair
"3 wishes? Walking is definitely not up there, lads!"
