JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. --The Beaches Council for the Disabled has been working more than for twenty years to make First Coast beaches more accessible for those with disabilities by adding ramps, showers, parking spaces and beach wheelchairs. <\/p>\n
\"I usually walk with a walker; I was born with Cerebral Palsy. I was born two months early.\" <\/p>\n
Kara Tucker is the President of the Beaches Council for the Disabled, but she also knows first-hand the importance of those with disabilities to be able to access the beach. <\/p>\n
\"To be able to go on the beach with my walker is not necessarily easy because I don't have the big balloon wheels like the chair has,\" says Tucker. <\/p>\n
According to Gary Fiske, who sits on the council's Board of Directors, those balloon wheels and their PVC pipe frames aren't easy to maintain. <\/p>\n
\"Salt gets into the bearings, wears them out,\" Fiske explains. <\/p>\n
\"Just like anything else down here on the beach, it's really rough out here, with the salt and sand it takes a number on anything, whether it's PVC or stainless steel, it still takes a beating.\" <\/p>\n
The chairs aren't cheap either. Fiske was one of three police officers who pushed for the addition of the first beach wheelchairs back in the early 80's. He said each one costs about $1100. <\/p>\n
However, beach-goer, Mallory Courtney, said it is well worth the cost. She said a car accident left one of her friends paralyzed, but seeing her still get to experience the beach brought her to tears. <\/p>\n
\"We pushed her down to the beach, she got to touch the sand, she played with it with her hands and everything, and it was just a phenomenal thing to watch,\" Courtney says. <\/p>\n
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Beaches prepare for those with disabilities<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. --The Beaches Council for the Disabled has been working more than for twenty years to make First Coast beaches more accessible for those with disabilities by adding ramps, showers, parking spaces and beach wheelchairs Continue reading