Not being able to bring up your shopping when you live on the 15th floor or simply leaving your home because of a broken elevator: each year, 1.5 million elevator breakdowns are recorded in France. To overcome this recurring and worrying problem, which affects thousands of people, a bill aimed at combating untreated elevator breakdowns has been under debate since Thursday, January 23 in the National Assembly.
In a residential suburb, in Rueil-Malmaison in Hauts-de-Seine, Abdeladim Outtaleb uses a wheelchair. He rents an apartment located on the 2nd floor and, following heavy rain, the elevator in his building breaks down. A situation that has lasted for two months.
“ I live in hellhe confides. I can’t go down. I can’t do anything except telework from home. I want to go to a museum, to a park, to get some fresh air, like everyone else ! As someone with a disability, I feel like I’m in prison. For the moment, I am suffering. »
To finally get out of his house. Abdeladim found the solution. He uses the services of Fouad Ben Ahmed. This activist within the Plus sans elevator collective launched, a few years ago, SAMV (Vertical Mobility Assistance Solution), a company which works to no longer leave people with reduced mobility behind.
“ We adapted an electric motor with specific equipment, meeting our uses, he explains. We can move a person from the ground floor to the 18th floor, up to 130 kilos, on all types of stairs. The most important thing is training, skills. Our assistants are a bit like mountain guides. »
The high mountain guide in question, smiling, who comes to rescue Abdeladim, is called Willy. Abdeladim is then strapped into a very special chair, with an electric motor at its base and whose rotating movement follows the steps and allows them to go down.
A very special job for Willy, a young 22-year-old recruit: “ This is not joint work. I like doing a service, but it requires patience, especially to understand the mechanism of the chair. You have to put yourself on the edge. You then have to tilt the chair, adjust the three speed button, etc. It’s the chair that does all the work. We are there as an assistant. »
Recurring elevator breakdowns also occur within the Hemicycle. “ With this law, we restore order to the elevator maintenance system : obligation to stock parts for elevator companies, obligation of intervention times, obligation of prescription measures so that, in the event of a prolonged breakdown, there are replacement measures : carrying meals, carrying shopping, carrying people up the stairs… There are companies that do this today », explains the socialist Philippe Brun, who brought the bill to the National Assembly.
While the deputies are working to find a solution, Abdeladim was able to descend the dozens of stairs that separate him from the outside. “ Two minutes to go down ! It is a useful alternative solution, SAMV, but only in the short term. I want to get back to my normal life “, he proclaims. Every year, there are 1.5 million elevator breakdowns in France.
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