top of page

The Disabled are Dying in CA Wildfires - Guest Writer Ryan Honick

HL Thompson


A Brief Intro…

I opened my news feed to an article that took my breath away. A mom left her son with cerebral palsy behind:


“He said, ‘Mom leave me,’ and no mom can leave their kid... I’ve got a broken arm, I couldn’t lift him. I couldn’t move him.”


There are too many stories of people with disabilities and lack of mobility dying in the fires of LA.


I have a disability. I’m devastated and enraged. I do not understand.


I cannot grasp this horror as a mother and a person with limited mobility.


That’s why I’m grateful for the voice of disability advocate Ryan Honick. He wrote the following post on LinkedIn, which I’m including with his permission.


Ryan has given words to something that needs to be said - please read this whether you have a disability or not. There will come a day when someone you love - or you yourself - will have limited mobility. It may be permanent or temporary. I never imagined it would happen to me.


 

Ryan Honick

LinkedIn Top Voice Disability Advocacy • Disability Advocate • Speaker • Professional Persuader


Reading the recent story from Sonja Sharp at Los Angeles Times about Anthony Mitchell Sr. and his son Justin—a father and son who both had disabilities and died because of inadequate evacuation planning during the devastating LA wildfires—has left me angry and heartbroken. Their deaths were preventable, and yet they were left to wait, pray, and perish. This tragic event reflects systemic failures that disabled people, like me, fear every day.


I can’t ignore how often disabled people are overlooked in emergency planning.


Growing up, I was never truly part of evacuation plans. After 9/11, I remember my math teacher pointing to a football player and saying, “Ryan, that’s your escape plan.” That moment encapsulated the lack of planning, forethought, and value placed on the lives of disabled individuals. Now, as an adult living in a 25-story high-rise in D.C., those fears haven’t gone away. During fire drills or alarms, the elevator shuts down, the hallway doors automatically lock, and I’m left wondering: “Will anyone come?” I’m on supposed watch lists, but those plans are never practiced. The truth is, I don’t have faith that help will come when it matters most.


Anthony Mitchell Sr., an amputee who used a wheelchair, and Justin Mitchell, who had cerebral palsy, couldn’t escape on their own. Firefighters stopped family members from entering the evacuation zone to save them. As the flames closed in, they huddled together, waiting for a rescue that never came.


Officials have known for years that disabled individuals are disproportionately impacted by disasters. A 2019 state audit highlighted how emergency management agencies were woefully unprepared for this threat, despite California being home to 4 million disabled residents, including nearly a quarter-million in Los Angeles​


We can and must do better. Emergency response plans need to be inclusive, regularly practiced, and accessible to everyone. This means involving disabled individuals in planning processes, investing in assistive technology, and ensuring first responders are trained to address the needs of disabled people during disasters.


We’re one-fourth of the global population. Our lives are just as valuable, and our voices need to be heard. Let’s stop apologizing after the fact and start making proactive changes now. The cost of inaction is far too great.



 

Stay tuned for part two - a reflection on the fires and disasters in general from the perspective of home care.


I was in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, having been invited by Warren Hebert - the Director of the Home Care Association Louisiana - as he sought to prevent another tragedy like that from ever happening again. We heard stories of nurses riding out the storm with patients.


While the heart of home care was evident, it still leaves me wondering - Why must the sick and disabled keep asking if they are going to rescue us?



9 views

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


© 2024 NOVELORICA, LLC All images on this site are protected under copywrite law and may not be used without the written permission of NOVELORICA, LLC

bottom of page