Paraplegic woman prepares for dream trip to Paris

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Traveling is a lot more difficult for people who use mobility devices, but a West Michigan woman isn’t letting that stop her from fulfilling a longtime dream.

“I have always wanted to go to Europe and I wasn’t sure that I would ever be able to because of being in a wheelchair,” said Katie Oberst.

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Two days after Oberst’s first birthday an open-heart surgery went wrong and she was paralyzed from the waist down. In 2022, she contracted COVID-19, which caused sores on her left leg to turn into a bone infection. Her left leg had to be amputated. In April 2023, she moved into a Corewell Health inpatient rehab center, where she now receives palliative care.

“I have had a very difficult life medically, but I was raised by parents who demanded that I be independent. And I’m very happy that they demanded that because it helped me be able to travel all over the United States,” Oberst said.

Oberst, now 38, has been to 42 states, traveled around much of Canada, attended Broadway shows, and countless concerts.

“I’ve been really lucky,” she said.

Her dream though since she was a teenager was to travel to Paris. She’s been studying French for several years and she and her mother talked about planning a trip before she was moved to the rehab center.

“My mother was like, ‘Well, you know, you’re not going to be able to get out of rehab, but let’s still plan a trip to Paris. You can still go on vacation,'” Oberst explained.

With the help of a service called Wheel the World, that dream will become a reality when Oberst travels to Paris with her mom and sister on Sunday.

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“(Wheel the World) created this wonderful six-day trip to Paris for me, my mom and my sister,” Oberst said. “We’re going to Musee d’Orsay, the Louvre, we’re going to Montmartre, and Sacre Coeur Basilica, and I would say the one I’m most excited about is Montmartre and Sacre Coeur.”

Oberst had to go through months of physical and occupational therapy to get ready for the trip. She learned how to transfer again and regained a lot of strength and endurance.

“(Corewell staff) have been really incredible and facilitating the rest of the stuff that I need to be able to go,” she said.

“I’m just so proud of Katie. She has come a long way. This could not be possible without her dedication, effort … and I really have seen her grow and kind of thrive,” said Dr. Amy Sanborn, a geriatric physician at Corewell Health. “That is the beauty of kind of this niche of palliative care that Katie is receiving.”

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Sanborn said the main focus was making sure Oberst would have the equipment and medication she needs on the other side of the world.

“It sounds easy. You can just say, oh, you know, for example, Katie needed a new wheelchair, or that would be something that would help make this trip more possible, and it sounds easy to do. It is not easy to do to obtain a lot of these resources. There’s a lot of hoops to jump through and difficulties getting medications for an extended period of time that are what she needs,” she explained. “Then, it was kind of staying vigilant and staying on top of her current health conditions to try and prevent and catch things that may come up that could put a snag in the ability for this trip to happen.”

Sanborn witnessed Oberst’s determination.

“This is this is why I think I went into health care,” Sanborn said. “We want to help people live the best lives that they can.”

“Yes, they have a medical condition or a diagnosis, how can we treat that, with the focus still being on what matters to that person?” Sanborn continued. “And I think that that’s the joy that I that I get. I was so happy to get to go see Katie yesterday and say you can do this.”

As for what brings Oberst joy, she says, “I have faith in God, in a loving God and that has helped a lot. For all of the downs my life has had, there have been plenty of ups and positives and things that just keep me going, keep me focused on what the next thing is.”

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