The 69-year-old Liesbeth van Malsen from Den Bosch is unable to walk due to her muscle disease and has less and less strength in her arms and legs. When she goes out, she always takes her bicycle. “That bike is my legs, because I can’t walk for a long time,” she says. But it is quite a task to get it out of the storage room in her apartment complex. That is why she has asked the municipality of Den Bosch to install an automatic door, but that will not happen. “They say I should go by bus.”
A few years ago, 69-year-old Liesbeth was diagnosed with polyneuropathy. Because of this muscle disease, her muscle strength is deteriorating. To maintain her muscle strength, Liesbeth goes to the gym five days a week. “This way I can live independently for as long as possible, because I don’t want to depend on others.”
In order to continue to take care of herself, Liesbeth desperately needs her bicycle. “A walk to the supermarket takes another 5 minutes, but it takes me half an hour with my walker,” she says. “Cycling is less stressful for my leg muscles. And I can’t lift my heavy shopping bags. I put them in my pannier.”
But it is quite a job to get her bike out of the storage room. Liesbeth has to go through two heavy doors with her walker and bicycle. First in the gallery to the elevator and down in the storage room. “Because I’m losing more and more muscle, it would be much easier if this door is automatic. Then I only have to press one button.”
“I definitely need that automatic door if I ever end up in a wheelchair.”
In August last year, Liesbeth asked the municipality of Den Bosch to make the doors automatic. She did this through the Social Support Act (Wmo). This law obliges municipalities to help residents with care questions, so that people can continue to live independently for as long as possible.
Her first application was rejected by a Wmo official. The solution? Make a hook on the wall and loosen the door closer. “But that bracket is not allowed because of fire safety. And it is not possible to tighten the door closer because then the door will no longer close properly,” says Liesbeth.
She hated the first rejection. “I need that custom door now, but I will definitely need it if I ever end up in a wheelchair.”
“The municipal official said that I should take the bus.”
Liesbeth objected. Despite a positive advice from a doctor to install two automatic doors, the municipality only allocated one door, in the gallery. “The Wmo official has found Columbus’s egg. I no longer need my bike, because there is a bus station an 8-minute walk from my house. Then I have to take the bus,” says Liesbeth. “I could not believe my ears.”
And so the 69-year-old Bossche objected for the second time. But the council persisted. “They rejected the automatic door in the storage room because I can still live independently without that automatic door in the storage room,” says de Bossche. “But I do need the bicycle in that storage room to stay fit and to do my shopping. “
Now Liesbeth tries it one more time through the courts. When her request is rejected, Liesbeth starts saving so that she can have the door installed herself. “That door will come anyway. It is a pity that a whole charade is made of it.”
The municipality has not responded to questions from Omroep Brabant.
