Bradford Lad: Short Cut To High Drama
Mike Coatesworth learns that it is never a good idea to take a short cut, particulrarly when you are in a wheelchair.
I would like to thank the two policemen who came to my rescue when I visited the Mela.
My daughter Lesley asked if I would like to go to the Mela festival in Peel Park, Bradford. We set out around lunchtime and soon heared music coming from the park. I must admit I am still a little kid at heart and was excited when I saw a funffair.
Pointing to the food stall Lesley said she was hungry and fancied corn-on-the-cob which was being cooked on a barbecue. The corn was so hot we had to wait for someminutes before we could eat it.
Inevitably we ended up at the funfair. Raffle tickets were being sold from one of the stalls there. If the numbers on a ticket added up to 21 you won a prize, a toy animal. At the first go we won a stuffed dog. Lesley hung this dog from the back of my wheelchair. We got some funny looks. Eveidently some folk thought the dog was real.
Lesley went for a ride on the Ghost train, then on one of the more daring and violent rides. I’m convinced I heard her screaming. After that we looked around the rest of the Mela then decided it was time to head for home. We headed up the hill towards the park gates, but the footpath was full of holes and not suitable for a wheelchair. Rather than taking a long detour I decided to run the chair onto the grass.
Near the top of a steep snow-covered slope my wheelchair began to slip backwards. The brakes were on, but the chair was behaving like a sledge. I was in danger of tumbling all the way down the hill. Lesley was hanging on tightly but she was unable to stop the chair, which was gathering speed.
Suddenly two policemen appeared. They had been sitting in a van near the main gates and came running when they saw what was happening. They grabbed the chair and brought it to a halt.
‘We’ll get you up onto the road,'' one of them said, laughing. "Just so long as you let us stroke your dog.''
