Megan Downs with head teacher Mr Jeremy Garner.

Students at de Stafford School in Caterham were surprised to see their head teacher, Mr Jeremy Garner, navigating his way around the school in a wheelchair recently. Mr Garner was using the wheelchair, kindly loaned to him by Titan Mobility in Caterham, to help one of his pupils, Megan Downs, raise awareness of the issues faced by wheelchair users. Megan was born with a very rare condition called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita which inhibits the movement of her limbs, so Megan spends much of her time in a wheelchair. Megan said: “As part of our Citizenship Project I had to choose something to campaign about so I chose the issues faced by wheelchair users. Mr Garner kindly agreed to spend some time in a wheelchair to see for himself the challenges we face and to get the attention of the rest of the school. “I thnk it is very important that disabled people are seen as human beings, and not just nuisances getting in the way.” Describing the experience, Mr Garner said: “The students were very concerned to see me in the wheelchair when Megan and I popped in to their classrooms. One of the biggest things for me was the physicality of it - my arms are really hurting from pushing the wheels! “The students can see that Megan doesn’t make a fuss. She has such a positive outlook in life and is such an ambassador - she confronts challenges head on.” Megan said: “I have bad days sometimes but the school has been brilliant at accommodating my needs over the last five years. I am grateful to Mr Garner for helping me with my awareness campaign today.”