A disabilities rights activist has died from complications of an infected ulcer three months after United Airlines allegedly destroyed her custom-made wheelchair and provided her with a replacement that did not properly support her body.
Engracia Figueroa, 51, died on Sunday from complications from an infected ulcer, two weeks after she was admitted to an ICU for the second time since her wheelchair was reportedly destroyed onboard a United Airlines flight.
She had been hit by a Bay Area Rapid Transit train 30 years ago that left her with a spinal cord injury and an amputated left leg, and had a wheelchair built specifically to support her body, which she considered an 'extension' of herself.
But the wheelchair was reportedly destroyed in the cargo hold of a flight from Washington DC to her hometown of Los Angeles back in August, and she was forced to use a replacement that did not properly support her, resulting in a pressure sore and acute pain.
Soon, Hand in Hand, a nationwide network advocating for dignified working conditions that Figueroa was involved in, says Figueroa began to experience further pain, muscle spasms, a severe edema and finally an infected ulcer that spread to her bones and tissue and that ultimately led to her death.
Engracia Figueroa, 51, was hit by a Bay Area Rapid Transit train 30 years ago that left her with a spinal cord injury and an amputated left leg. She had a custom wheelchair built specifically to support her body
The disabilities rights activist's wheelchair was reportedly destroyed in the cargo hold of a flight from DC to her hometown of Los Angeles back in August, and she was forced to use a replacement that did not properly support her, resulting in a pressure sore and acute pain
Figueroa had been active with the Long Term Care and Support Services for All Coalition, and was the president of the Board of Communities Actively Living Independent and Free, an independent living center in Los Angeles.
She was representing Hand in Hand in Washington DC in July at the Care Can't Wait rally and Communities of Care art installation to urge Congress to invest in the home health care system.
When she returned home to Los Angeles in early August, she discovered that United Airlines had damaged her wheelchair while it was in the cargo hold.
'I was heartbroken,' she told ABC 7 after she discovered her chair 'completely contorted.'
'I just thought, all of the
