Let's hope bizarre stories regarding Sweden's nationalized health care system are the exception - worried Americans have enough on their minds without wondering if a government life/death panel will suddenly decide not having legs is not good enough reason to have a wheelchair.
A man from Nyköping in eastern Sweden has been denied a power wheelchair despite having had both of his legs amputated after a long struggle with diabetes. The health authority remained "uncertain if the impairment was permanent".
The man applied for a so-called Permobile, a power wheelchair, that he could maneuver himself but health officials said he should be able to get by with an ordinary one, which would require another person to help him at all times, plus they just weren't convinced his legs wouldn't grow back, or that magical robot legs wouldn't appear at Christmas. Luckily, the private sector still came to the rescue. Through media reports, a woman in the nearby area caught wind of the couple’s plight and contacted her brother, who works with permobiles and has previously helped others in the same predicament and they have agreed to send one on loan.
Legless man denied wheelchair The Local
