Able to travel: Susan Winkler hasn't let her wheelchair stop her from seeing the world

Ten years ago, Susan Winkler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and now uses a wheelchair to get around -- but that hasn't stopped her from traveling the world.

"I used to say, 'Everything I do in life surrounds around MS, and everything I can't do surrounds around MS,'" Winkler said recently at her Cape Girardeau home. "But I want people to know they can have a life. It's not a life like everyone has, but you can have a full life, and you can travel."

With some planning beforehand, Winkler went on a European cruise with her husband and several friends in mid-June, stopping at ports in Italy, Spain and France.

"Most everything was handicap accessible," she says. "I was pleasantly surprised, because over in Europe, they don't have the Americans with Disabilities Act like we do, and it's not always conducive to the handicapped."

Winkler also hired Sage Traveling, a Texas-based company that provides customized accessible travel for its clients who use wheelchairs, scooters or have other mobility issues. The company's owner and founder, John Sage, was injured in a snow-skiing accident in 2001, when he was 22 years old. He now uses a wheelchair and has visited Europe 16 times, including more than 120 cities.

Susan Winkler hasn't let her wheelchair stop her from traveling. (photo submitted by Susan Winkler)

Winkler booked the cruise with Royal Caribbean, and Sage Traveling took care of arranging transfers to hotels and scheduling tours, where the group of eight was able to stay together in a handicap-accessible van.

The tour guides were a wealth of knowledge, she says, and although the cobblestone streets in Rome made for a bumpy ride, Winkler says her wheelchair was able to keep its battery charge for two days.

"If I had to get MS, I'm glad I got it at this time in history, because 20 years ago, they wouldn't have had things like this," she says. "It wouldn't have been as easy, and travel would've been very difficult."

As for airlines, Winkler says they flew American Airlines, "and they were really great to work with." She says she's had good experiences with Southwest Airlines, as well.

But she's hopeful that someday she'll be able to take her wheelchair onto the plane instead of putting it in cargo.

Winkler and her husband also have been to New York City and Washington, D.C., and they went on an Alaskan cruise.

"Travel is so great," she says. "I know some people don't like to do it, but to me, it's a wonderful way of educating yourself about different countries and different cultures. I just find that fascinating, and it broadens your horizons so much."

Winkler says she was diagnosed with MS at age 45 and was progressively getting worse. She eventually had to start using a scooter and has used a wheelchair for five years.

"I was working at Alliance Bank, and I was limping. So, I finally had to give it up," she says. "It was too much."

And while the days immediately following her diagnosis were tough, Winkler eventually started living by the motto "carpe diem," or "seize the day."

"Life is too short, and you have to live each day to the fullest," she says. "I'm just kind of living proof that you can have a life and you can travel and you can enjoy yourself."

Winkler says she recently went to a new doctor, who asked if she got out much. It was soon after her trip, and she responded, "Well, I just got back from Italy, France and Spain."

"He said, 'Oh, I guess you do!'"