WFSB Channel 3Wheelchair bound woman claims shelter couldn't accommodate her during storm

Wheelchair bound woman claims shelter couldn't accommodate her during storm

A West Hartford woman confined to a wheelchair plans to file a complaint with the Department of Justice and the town, claiming the town's emergency shelter could not accommodate her wheelchair during the storm.

Sharon Denson says she couldn't get her wheelchair up to the shelter and the elevator didn't have power.

Denson, who has been in a wheelchair for about 8 years due to muscular dystrophy, met with a member of the fire department who said some firefighters could carry her up.

But she says that was not a reasonable solution given what could have gone wrong.

"I was so upset, it took everything in me not to start crying while we were having that meeting in the stairwell," she said.

She says town officials also offered to get her to a nursing home which had power, but she found that insulting.

West Hartford soon moved its shelter to Conard High School which was accessible but by then, after two nights sleeping in her basement, Denson had found a hotel to stay in.

Town manager Ron Van Winkle says the scope of the storm was practically unprecedented and that the town did what it could to help people.

"We were in the midst of a national disaster here in Connecticut," he said.

Van Winkle says the town plans to buy or lease two big generators to put at Conard and Hall high schools for future shelters.

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