Navigating Campus with Crutches

Graphic by Bree Fabbie

For the past two weeks, I’ve had to learn how to navigate Belmont’s campus on crutches. 

These two weeks have made me realize how hard this campus is to navigate for people with limited mobility with the number of heavy doors and hills on this campus. 

At the beginning of November, I partially tore a muscle in my leg after straining it a week prior and then aggravating it again.  

My orthopedist told me I could use crutches for a couple of weeks to alleviate the pressure I put on my leg and relieve some of my pain, so I took him up on that offer. 

What followed was a strenuous, and loud, two weeks of hobbling around on crutches. 

The biggest challenge - doors on this campus. 

I don’t think I’ve ever been in one place with heavier doors than at Belmont. 

When the door is already impossible to open without crutches, how am I expected to get into any building, especially when it’s already difficult to open a door when I’m on crutches? 

The main culprits tend to be at the Janet Ayers Academic Center, the Johnson Center and, believe it or not, the bathrooms in the Jack C. Massey Center. 

I’m finding myself coming to a stop and pushing or pulling on the doors as hard as I can to try to get inertia on my side so I can speed-crutch inside before the doors close.  

This tactic has not worked. 

Thankfully, most of the time another student would appear and open the door for me. 

But that wasn’t the case every time, and I’d be throwing out a crutch or one of my feet to catch the door. 

Some of the doors are automatic once I open them a certain amount, but the sheer weight of the doors makes it hard to even get to that point when you’re balancing on crutches.  

The second challenge I had to overcome on crutches was simply getting to and from classes and my apartment.  

I live in Dickens Hall, which is at the top of a deceptively large hill, and the hike up that hill after class in the JAAC is not for the weak.  

Fortunately, I’ve had some superstar friends who’ve dropped everything to come and pick me up from class and drive me back. 

But that hasn’t been the case every day. 

To make that trek easier for myself, I’ve resorted to, instead of walking up the hill, going around to the staircase in between Maddox/Wright Hall and the Curb Garage and slowly inching my way up the stairs. 

It’s definitely slower, but it’s not as tiring as the hill. 

Now, I’m also cognizant of the fact that our campus is drastically smaller than some and that I’m quite lucky that everything is generally close together. 

But when I only have 10 minutes to crutch from the Sports Science Center to the Johnson, it feels miles long.  

Lastly, the elevators here, in every building, take forever. 

I tend to be someone who resorts to the stairs because I refuse to wait for the elevator, and I feel accomplished when I conquer four flights of stairs in the JAAC. 

But it’s obviously not in my best interest to pick the stairs right now when I could take an elevator instead.  

I’ve been leaving for classes 30 minutes early just so I can get to the building and then have time to stand and wait for the elevator without fear of being late. 

Not only do the elevators take a while, but they’re also very small given the size of our academic buildings and how many students get out of class at the same time.  

Still, I’ve found that most people are willing to let the woman on crutches squeeze into the elevator first, which has been a blessing. 

I’m fortunate that walking around on crutches is not something I have to do for a long period of time, and in general I can maneuver this campus easily. 

But reflecting on these past two weeks, I’m annoyed at how much more inaccessible this campus is than I previously thought. 

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This column was written by Abby Thomas