Image description

Star has pink hair and sits in a wheelchair wearing a purple sweater. The background features a broken chain and different textures ripped up. Design: Becki Moss

Star and 'using the damn mobility aid'

Star (she/he) is a Masters student and artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau. They use a variety of mobility aids including a walking stick and electric wheelchair. It’s easy to spot them at a protest, masked up with their decorated and customised wheelchair.

Custom Club is a six-part video series about mobility aids and the liberation they represent, produced by Becki Moss and created in partnership with Independent Living.

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Read the the transcript of the video of Star below.

[Becki: What freedom or liberation have your mobility aids given you?]

Star: I think before getting my power chair, I was pretty much unable to do most things outside of the house without someone being with me. It is a very simple thing, basic things. But now I can basically go wherever I want to, whenever I want to, which I think is a massive freedom that I haven't had for a really long time.

I can go grocery shopping whenever I want. I can catch public transport again. I can go back to university. I've been able to complete my bachelor's degree because of my power chair. If I didn't have her, I wouldn't have been able to do that. Which is like a massive achievement for me, I think. And also, I'm just able to go see my friends and go to gigs and kind of travel whenever I want to.

Which I think is something a lot of non-disabled people take for granted. And so being able to get back those kind of really basic but really important kind of things has been really quite liberating for me and having her

[Becki: What would you say to your younger self who might have been reluctant to use something like this?]

Star: I think I would tell myself that you don't need to hide your disability. There's nothing wrong in being disabled.

And I think there's actually a lot of strength and courage and beauty in being disabled and being proud to be disabled. Use the damn mobility aid. Please. Please use the damn mobility aid. Mobility aids don't have to be a boring medical item. You can customise them and you can make them interesting. And you shouldn't let that hold you back from, I guess, giving yourself the accessibility that you need to live well.

Image description: Star has pink hair and sits in a wheelchair wearing a purple sweater, red tights and pink shoes. She is by a green fence with sunlight filtering through the trees.

Image description: Star, with pink hair and distinct makeup, gazes to the side. She wears a purple sweater, accessorised with a pink choker necklace.

Image description: Star stands in a bright yellow lounge room, wearing red tights, a purple sweater and holding a pink cane.

This series was produced in paid partnership with Independent Living.