Sword Canes Aren’t Badass. I Am.
I am a full time mobility aid user, and frequently I use a cane, otherwise I’m using forearm crutches, a rollator, wheelchair, or powerchair.
A cane was my first mobility aid, and I got it when I was 18. It’s given me so much and I’m thankful for my tiny collection of canes. I have a couple that are gorgeous, but still obviously are medical devices, they’re not very fancy, because that’s not the point of their existence.
I especially love my cane that is jet black with a silver engraved dragon scale type pattern and a fairly standard question mark style handle with foam on it, it’s absolutely gorgeous. It matches my aesthetic perfectly (dark, goth, alt, punk type of vibes) and I get comments frequently about how it should have a sword in it.
They don’t care to listen when I explain that it’s for my disabilities, that I need it to walk at all, and wielding a sword would dislocate my joints and probably make me fall and impale myself.
It’s so frustrating when people see it as a joke or a cosplay or something that needs to be more.
It helps me move in the world, particularly a world that is extremely inaccessible for disabled people like myself, so much so that most of the time, I can’t use any other mobility aids, I’m forced to crawl up and down stairs and just avoid routes entirely even with my cane, let alone when I’m out with my mobility aids with wheels.
My cane is beautiful for the simple fact that it helps me. It is enough.
I am enough too.
Sword canes aren’t badass. I am.
