HE'S NOT DISABLED ENOUGH
FIGHTING
BACK: Steve Tarrant at physiotherapy
A MAN who lost a leg in a horrific accident can't get an
adapted car because he is not considered disabled enough.
"It's bureaucracy gone mad," said Steve Tarrant,
a race track marshal seriously injured in an accident at Goodwood, where two
other men died. "How can my condition not be permanent?" asked an
angry and bemused Steve, 40, of Sea View Road, Upton. "How am I supposed to
re-grow a leg? If it's amputated it's not there any more."
He has been assessed by the renamed Department for Work and
Pensions (formerly DSS) for the higher rate Disability Living Allowance of £53
a week. But the award has been made for two years and to qualify
for a hand-controlled Motability vehicle he needs the money for three years -
the length of their lease.
Motability has therefore refused him the adapted Ford Focus
he was looking forward to driving.
"One year ago my life was turned upside down, I almost
lost it a number of times. After fighting back from that sort of situation the
whole thing is very frustrating," said Steve.
The volunteer marshal was helping at the Goodwood Festival
of Speed last year when he and a colleague were struck by a Formula One Lotus. Both the other men died and Steve spent five months in
hospital, lost his right leg above the knee, had a badly broken left leg which
is now two inches shorter and suffered stomach and head wounds.
Having fought for his life, Steve is now embarking on
another fight - to get a car with a hand-controlled accelerator and get back his
independence. He had been looking forward to going shopping when he
wanted and driving to work at Abbey Life, where he is back two mornings a week
as a computer programmer.
A spokesman for Motability confirmed the problem.
"It's simply because he hasn't got the allowance for a long enough
period," he said.
The DWP spokesman could not
discuss individual cases but
said each was considered individually and awards were made "for a
period". There could be a change in the person's
circumstances. Things might get better, they might adapt to matters better. It's
not an open-ended award," she said. "If someone is not happy with the decision they can
ask for us to have a look at it again," she added.
