Graduate Student Describes 'Traumatic' Bus Ride

Chantal Huinink, who uses an electric wheelchair, endured a grueling, seemingly endless Greyhound bus trip from Toronto to Waterloo in late January, escaping injury when her feet got trapped by tie-down straps.

Also, she had to endure below-zero temperatures twice during the trip that should have taken one hour but ended nearly four hours later when Waterloo firefighters had to safely remove her from the bus.

“This was an emotionally traumatic and physically troubling experience, but I really felt God was intervening and protecting me all of the way. I’m thankful nothing serious happened to me,” said Huinink, a lifelong member of the Christian Reformed Church.

Huinink is a social work and divinity student at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. Her story has drawn widespread media attention. For instance, she has been featured in the Toronto Star newspaper and on the Joni and Friends radio show.

This is what happened to her.

Huinink was in Toronto with a friend to see a play and had booked the trip with the bus company’s accessibility office a week before.

Huinink says the wheelchair lift was ready when she arrived at the bus terminal. But she had to wait for 25 minutes in frigid temperatures while the driver struggled unsuccessfully to untangle the tie-downs for the lift.

She was then asked to take another bus, which she boarded without a problem. However, the driver used only two straps to secure her wheelchair.

So when the driver hit the brakes, her wheelchair jerked forward and her feet became wedged in the seats in front of her. Unable to free her, the driver returned to the bus terminal for help.

With no other accessible buses available, the driver and other Greyhound staff eventually freed her feet and used a cable to secure everything in place.

The driver then left for Waterloo. But when the driver arrived at Wilfrid Laurier University and opened the accessible door to activate the wheelchair lift, it descended to the sidewalk and got stuck, leaving Huinink stranded on the bus with the door open.

“The door wouldn't close and I was stuck there and it was very cold," she said. “I called campus police who called the fire department and they were the ones who were able to get me safely off the bus.”

In an interview with CRC News, Huinink said she has long been an advocate for the issues promoted by the CRC’s Office of Disability Concerns. She has also volunteered for the campus ministry of the University of Guelph as an undergraduate and now as a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University.

“I have benefited so much from the Christian Reformed Church that has recognized my spiritual gifts,” she said.

“I bring these gifts to God who loves me. Without the encouragement of the church, I wouldn't be able to fight for change like I have."

The recent bus ride "from hell" is not the first time that Huinink has experienced difficulties in taking public transportation. But this incident, especially having to be rescued by firefighters, seemed different.

She initially wrote about it on the Internet.

That's when she got requests for interviews, which she decided to accept, wanting to draw attention to the larger issue of making buses more accessible to everyone and not just herself.

“Establishing reliable transit, where all the drivers are trained and equipment is in good working order, is important for my full employment and my ability to serve others as well,” Huinink told the Toronto Star.

“But it is a bigger issue than just me. Everyone deserves equality of service. It is supposed to be the law in Ontario.”

Late last week, Greyhound officials announced that all Greyhound bus drivers in Canada will receive a refresher course on accessibility equipment over the next three weeks. Also, faulty wheelchair straps will be replaced immediately and driver training on accessible equipment will go from once every two years to every year.

They also offered Huinink an apology and a free bus trip on Greyhound.

Huinink was pleased by the response and especially to hear of the changes Greyhound plans to introduce, but she wonders if the changes will go far enough.

 "My dream is that the service becomes safer for persons with disabilities," she said.

Mark Wallace, team leader for Christian Reformed Home Missions campus ministries, says Chantal Huinink has been actively involved with the CRC’s campus ministry over the years as a student leader at Guelph and now at Laurier.

“She has been a regular participant, leader, catalyst and just about anything else you can imagine,” says Wallace.

Most especially, he says, Huinink has been an inspiration to others because of her “dynamism and commitment to following Christ in this world and making a real difference.”