Torch Relay for Disabled Arrives by Land and Sea

To the applause of onlookers, Sarah Will thundered up to the Venice Beach pier on her powerful jet water ski Monday as part of the Los Angeles stretch of the 24-city “Spirit of ADA Torch Relay.”

Aided by lifeguards, Will got into her wheelchair and passed the torch to a runner.

The torch relay, conducted by the American Assn. of People With Disabilities, is traveling cross-country to mark the 10-year anniversary of the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Los Angeles is the fourth city on the relay’s tour.

With a caravan of Los Angeles Police Department officers and relay staff, torchbearers continued the trek down Venice Boulevard to the torch’s final local destination at the Western Center for Independent Living in Venice.

The relay is intended to show how the federal act has affected people with disabilities across the country, said Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard, featured speaker for the event.

“What this law did is not only mandate access, but it has changed public attitudes about people with disabilities,” he said.

Kennard said the new arena for action will involve accessibility of communication. The FCC has already taken measures to aid people with disabilities by requiring wireless telephones to be compatible with hearing aids, increasing the number of closed-captioned television programs and making Internet access easier for people with disabilities.

“I want to move the ADA from the physical world to the virtual world,” he said.

Edward Ahern, 35, is part of this move to the virtual world.

The West Hollywood resident lost the ability to use his legs June 30, 1990, in a traffic accident in New York. It was a difficult time for Ahern. To him, it seemed that his life had ended when he lost the use of his legs.

With the passing of the act, Ahern said, many doors opened for him, and simple things, like getting a wider parking space so he could pull his wheelchair from his car, felt like a Super Bowl victory.

Ahern is now the director of community development with Www.ebility.com, a Web site that provides free e-mail or voice recognition e-mail to users.

The torch was lighted in Atlanta by Martin Luther King III. The relay began June 11 in Houston, then went to Austin, Texas, and on Saturday to the San Francisco Bay Area. The torch will make its final stop Aug. 7 in New York City.

Will, paralyzed in a skiing accident in 1988, is an eight-time Paralympic gold medalist in monoskiing and a sports writer for Www.accesslife.com, a Web site that provides services to America’s disabled people.

“This is a great day,” she said. “It’s bright outside and the relay is coming at a time when there are so many exciting things happening in our community.”

She will continue to train for the 2002 Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City.

Mary Ann Jones, executive director of the Western Center for Independent Living, said the relay will help shed light on other needs in the disabled community.

Jones, a quadriplegic, said there is always a need for more transportation services and affordable housing that is accessible.

“You always have to start with trying to get around,” she said.