Boy helps get wheelchair accessible swing installed for friend

Joshua Rudd, 9, wanted to make sure his best friend Scarlette Ryder, 5, felt included at the playground and had something to play on.

So he took matters into his own hands and decided to build her a special swing that she could use in her wheelchair.

It resulted in the Dunedin City Council installing a new roundabout swing at Hudson Park in Ravensbourne.

Despite her medical condition that made it difficult for her to stand, let alone walk, Scarlette was going to be a Kea for the Tera Nova Sea Scouts.

Joshua’s mother Phillipa Rudd said when Joshua found out Scarlette was going to be a Kea, he was worried she would not feel included because there was nothing for her to play on at the playground.

“He sees Scarlette on a daily basis because we’re neighbours and he sees the difficulty she has with everything and sees what she misses out on.

“He said ‘she could go on the swing but it’s not going to be for long’ so he set his mind on making sure she was also included on the playground.”

Josh did some research by going to different parks and looking at how the swings were built.

“He looked at existing wheelchair swings and he was like ‘nah, I don’t really like them’.

“So he built his own prototype.”

After making the prototype, Joshua wanted it to be built at the park, so his mother suggested he could write a letter to someone and ask.

“He goes ‘oh, maybe the council’ so we copied off some letters and put them in envelopes and he went and posted them.”

Best friends Scarlette Ryder and Josh Rudd take a turn on the new roundabout at Hudson Park in Ravensbourne. Photo / ODT

The council responded in an email and said it would do what it could to get it built.

Although it was not possible to get the design Joshua had made installed in the playground, the council bought a roundabout from overseas and installed it, together with a wheelchair-accessible pathway at the playground.

The roundabout was great because it meant Scarlette could play with other children as well, Mrs Rudd said.

Scarlette’s mother Sharyn Ryder said Scarlette had the RYR1 gene defect, a central core disease that affected all of her muscles throughout her body, and she had scoliosis and a sunken chest.

“She has surgery [today] to get metal plates taken out of her legs because she had her bones shortened and her tendons snipped in 2021 to hopefully give her the ability to stand, but it hasn’t.”

The roundabout swing offered a good distraction for Scarlette to escape the stress.

“She hears what the doctors say, goes to all the appointments and takes it in and asks millions of questions.

“So she’s very aware of what’s going on and what’s going to happen and things like this distract her from the negative side.

“It made her day the first time she went on it.

“She was so excited and you just couldn’t get her off it.”