Living in Sevastopol by the sea and not being able to swim in it – probably almost every working Sevastopol resident faces this paradox every summer. The reasons are banal – there is not enough time, energy, desire.
But there are those who have the opportunity to encounter the gentle, alluring sea water due to the accessibility of city beaches. We are talking about people with disabilities: not every shore can be reached in a wheelchair or on crutches.
Yes, here and there in the city an accessible environment for such citizens appears. But still this is a limited number of places. Alas, beaches are not included in this list.
Purely human
A resident of Sevastopol, Irina, is raising a disabled son of the first group. The family lives near Victory Park, but the inaccessibility of the beach is still a huge problem for them.
According to Irina, while her son was little, she bathed him in the sea herself, in her arms. But when he grew up – the guy is now 25 years old – it became much more difficult for a woman to bathe him in the sea.
Irina wrote about the lack of accessible beaches for the disabled in Sevastopol wherever she could. Finally, a few years ago, a swimming area for disabled people was organized near the second pier of the Victory Park beach.
They installed a rescue tower there, purchased a wheelchair, equipped a locker room, and built a ramp with handrails to the water.
But, unfortunately, this did not solve the problem.
“They did all this in a place where it is generally impossible for disabled people to bathe. Because the bottom there is very rocky with huge boulders. It’s hard for me to stand in the water, and even with my son in my arms, who can’t swim on his own,” the interlocutor said.
The solution could be to clear the bottom, but this requires a floating crane, and this is an expensive undertaking. It will also not be possible to disassemble huge stones manually.
“The problem is that a person needs to be held. That is, I go into the water with him and hold him, because he cannot swim on his own. There they either bathe small children, whose feet cannot yet reach the boulders at the bottom, or disabled adults swim, who can do it themselves,” she explained.
There is also no first-aid post or doctor in case of emergency on the beach, Irina added: “This is completely unacceptable! There is a beach for the disabled, but there is no doctor.”
Rescuers provide all possible assistance, but they can help transport a disabled person in a wheelchair to the water, and then you have to figure it out yourself.
“Rescuers change all the time, and I personally try to come to an agreement with each one on a purely human basis so that they can help me get my son at least to the water,” the interlocutor noted.
An option to solve the problem, according to Irina, would be to arrange a bathing area for disabled people in the area of the outer pier on the left side, where the bottom is lined with small smooth pebbles.
Several years ago, a woman offered such an option, but was refused – that beach is unofficially considered a children’s beach.
“They said: it’s not allowed, if you want, go there and swim, but we won’t help you there,” said the mother of a disabled person.
It is difficult for a woman to get to another beach with her son in a wheelchair. And there’s nowhere to go; there are practically no areas for swimming for people with limited mobility.
“Swimming in Omega for disabled people who, like my son, can swallow water, is simply dangerous. There is a closed bay with warm, polluted water. In order to take it out to sea at all, enormous physical costs are required, why else would this additional risk be necessary?” – Irina explained.
Unfortunately, there are not many active members in the disabled community; many have simply given up on the problem and do not believe that it can be solved. Many simply do not have enough time for such activity – all their time is devoted to constant care and concern for children with disabilities.
Therefore, the issue of accessibility of beaches in the city is almost never raised, Irina believes.
“It’s just that there aren’t that many willing and striving people who have grown-up children who can’t swim on their own. They just gave up on it all,” she said.
What did we give our best years for?
Let us note: not only parents of disabled children, but also adults with limited mobility face the problem of accessibility of beaches.
Retired captain 2nd rank Sergei Koptev became disabled as a result of an accident. After this, the man could no longer move without the help of crutches.
For a long time, the only place available for swimming for him was the South Yacht Club. Together with fellow disabled people, Sergei Koptev bought an annual pass to the club’s territory. There was a special parking lot for disabled people next to the beach and a pier with a ladder into the water was equipped.
“We gathered from 5 to 10 people. Some on crutches, some with a cane, some in a wheelchair. We had common interests and topics of conversation, considering that almost all former athletes were swimmers, water polo players, sailing masters, and naval all-around athletes. We ensured order and cleanliness in our area,” recalls the Navy veteran.
This went on for five years until the club’s management changed. Then the entrance to the parking lot near the beach was closed, and then it was completely demolished, and the ramp was removed.
The question arose again: where to swim? They began to explore the beaches.
There was no parking nearby in Ushakova Balka. In Karantinnaya Balka and on the territory of Chersonesus there is a rocky terrain, you cannot get to the water. At Solnechny and Omega it’s a long walk from the parking lot, and it’s difficult to move on sand or pebbles.
“Try walking into the sea on pebbles or sand on crutches without assistance!” — Sergey Koptev suggested.
As a result, the choice fell on Victory Park – it was just then that they had just installed a place for swimming for disabled people.
“From reports on TV and the press, I learned that there is a place for swimming for people with limited mobility in Victory Park. In fact, it turned out: the parking lot is far away, you can’t get onto the ramp in a wheelchair, you can’t get in on crutches – it’s slippery,” the interlocutor shared his disappointing conclusions.
For two years, Sergei Koptev and his comrades swam in Cossack Bay with varying success, but then the barrier was closed – it became impossible to get closer to the sea.
“Personally, every early summer I look for a place to swim, and, to tell the truth, there are fewer and fewer of them. The places where you can enter the water are not equipped, they are on private property, prohibiting signs do not allow you to approach,” the interlocutor said.
The last acceptable place for swimming was the wild coast of Omega Bay in the area of the military hospital. There is also room for access by car, and the water is clean, notes Sergei Koptev.
Together with friends and relatives, disabled people laid paths in the sea and cleared the area of debris. The issue was resolved, active pensioners were happy.
But a year later, a sign “Swimming is prohibited” appeared on the pole, and a year later an iron fence and a barrier with a sign “No Entry” appeared. But if this zone was equipped for disabled people, there would be no problems, says Sergei Koptev.
“And the question arises: what did I and people like me give our best years of life for? We served honorably in the navy, but in the end, since we don’t have an oil well or a bank, we can’t swim in the sea,” laments the Black Sea Fleet veteran.
To some, the problems of the disabled mother Irina or the Navy veteran Sergei may seem not so important and certainly not the primary task of a socially oriented state. Maybe so. But these are just two particular examples of the lives of people who live it as best they can and as circumstances allow. And I think there are many more such examples.
“Everyone thinks that legs are eternal. And therefore they absolutely do not think about the fact that they may refuse, for one reason or another. And if you could previously swim anywhere in Crimea, regardless of the condition of the coast – stones, rocks, sand, pebbles, distance from parking or public transport, then, having received a certificate of disability and confidently standing on crutches or sitting in a wheelchair, you understand: you can’t go back to how it was before.
Every extra step from the parking lot to the water’s edge becomes more and more difficult. And even if you succeeded in the first part, you still need to get into the water. At the same time, try not to break something that is not yet broken,” Sergei Koptev described the nuances of life with disabilities.
To find out how the right of people with disabilities to accessible beaches is actually implemented in Sevastopol, ForPost sent a request to the city department. There, by the way, they immediately clarified that the obligation to arrange an area for the disabled is spelled out in the contracts of beach operators.
This information was confirmed by one of the entrepreneurs – the operator of the Omega beach, De-Vi Crimea LLC.
According to its representative Rasul Musaev, every year a ramp with railings, a changing room, a shower and a toilet are installed in the area of the second pier of the beach.
The location for the development was chosen several years ago together with representatives of communities with limited mobility.
“If any wishes are received, we take them into account. For example, they laid out a path to the ramp to make it easier to drive up,” he clarified.
We hope to learn from the response of the relevant department whether the interests of all categories of citizens on other beaches will be taken into account and to what extent.
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In conclusion, we note: Sevastopol disabled people periodically have to fight for equal rights with other members of society. Sometimes this struggle brings results.
For example, several years ago, disabled person Victoria Mishchenko managed to defend the right to accessibility of the Solnechny beach in court. Not immediately and overcoming the resistance of officials, but still.
Only, probably, people whose opportunities are already limited for various reasons are unlikely to enjoy fighting and litigation to get what they are entitled to by law.
Polina Laskova
Photo by Pelageya Popova, Alexey Lokhvitsky, generated by the fusionbrain.ai neural network
Tags: beaches Sevastopol accessible
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