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  • Rita Ebel – That's how she rolls

Rita Ebel – That's how she rolls

More ramps for fewer barriers

19.05.2021

Rita Ebel has become known as the "Lego granny" in Germany: Since accessibility is still a scarce commodity, she designs ramps made of interlocking plastic bricks. Boxes of the colourful bricks are stored in her house and are transformed into ramps with creative patterns. To what extent she herself is dependent on accessibility, why she never loses her smile and how she otherwise rolls, she tells us on REHACARE.com.
Photo: a woman with light grey hair, glasses and a green t-shirt is sitting in a wheelchair in front of a building, on her legs she carries a ramp made of tiny bricks; Copyright: Lego-Oma-Team
Name: Rita Ebel
Age: 63
City: Hanau, Germany
Occupation: Pensioner, once a week I work in a medical supply store
Relation to the topic Impairment: I'm building ramps out of Lego bricks for people in wheelchairs, with walkers or strollers.

What makes a day a good day to you?

Rita Ebel: When I can be out and about in nice weather and meet interesting people.

Which auxiliary means or daily living aids are indispensable for you?

Rita Ebel: My wheelchair and my SmartDrive, with which I can cover longer distances on my own and thus leave my car behind more often.

What would you like to see from society and your fellow people in dealing with people with disabilities? 

Rita Ebel: An uncomplicated, open-minded togetherness without inhibitions in the mind.

Which assistive device would urgently need to be invented and/or improved?

Rita Ebel: Small height-adjustable ramps made of plastic that you can put in your backpack and always have with you.

Gif animation: REHACARE 2024 from 25 to 28 September 2024 in Düsseldorf/Germany, linked to "Get your tickets now"
Photo: A woman with light gray hair, glasses and green jacket is sitting at a table, drinking a cocktail and laughing into the camera; Copyright: Lego-Oma-Team

What has been your biggest challenge so far that you have mastered – and what has helped you to do so?

Rita Ebel: Accepting my incomplete paraplegia and making the best of it. My positive attitude and inner strength helped me.

What can the assistive technology industry learn from the Corona pandemic to make life easier and/or better for people with disabilities in the future?

Rital Ebel: That longer home visits (by doctor, nursing service, medical supply store and so on) are urgently needed more often to make daily life a little easier for people with disabilities.

If nothing would be impossible: Who would you like to meet one day and why?

Rita Ebel: Mr Spahn (currently serving as Germanys Federal Minister of Health), to explain to him exactly what some lives are like in reality.

What was your best REHACARE experience?

Rita Ebel: I think it's nice that you meet people you haven't seen for a long time and always make new contacts in a very uncomplicated way there.

What I finally want to say...

Rita Ebel: Look at the world positively and with a smile – even if it is sometimes difficult. Because there is hardly a situation that does not have something positive somewhere.

Grafik: So tickt; Copyright: beta-web/Schmitz

© beta-web/Schmitz

What makes other people actually happy in life? If you ever wondered, you have come to the right place. In regular intervals REHACARE.com asks a varity of people always the same questions. What results from that? Read for yourself!

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