A wheelchair user who has reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and supported pop superstar Demi Lovato on tour has spoken out about why disabled people might not always want help. Canadian Spencer West, who lost both his legs at the age of five due to a genetic disease, works as a motivational speaker and activist for people with disabilities.

He recently posted a video on Instagram, where he has 463,000 followers, highlighting an incident which happened to him while boarding a plane, explaining how it illustrates his feelings towards his mobility. The video was posted ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is held today, December 3.

The international awareness campaign has been held every year since it was founded by the United Nations (UN) in 1992. A statement by the World Health Organisation said: "The day is about promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities at every level of society and development, and to raise awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of political, social, economic, and cultural life."

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In the video, posted over footage of himself dismantling his wheelchair while boarding a plane, Spencer said: "Recently I was boarding a flight and I was taking apart my wheelchair on the jet bridge just before the entrance of the plane.

"A very lovely and well-intentioned staff member asked if I needed some help. I politely declined because I do this all the time, and continued to take apart my wheelchair, and then this happened."

The clip then shows someone in a high-vis jacket approach Spencer and motion to pick up his wheelchair, to which he holds his hand up to stop them and says "I'm good, thank you".

He continued: "Again, this staff member was well-intentioned and just wanted to help. But two things to note - if you ask if I need help and I say no, believe me.

"Second, many disabled folks consider their mobility devices an extension of their body, so touching those devices is essentially touching our body, and many of us prefer that you do not do that without consent."

Viewers were full of praise in the comments, with many other disabled people offering their own experiences.

One said: "OMG, yes! I have a neighbour in my apartment building who is very well intentioned, but 'helps' me with things I can do independently all the time. When I ask him not to, he says 'I'm just being helpful', but his help feels infantilising."

Another replied: "I’m so glad you shared this. I’ve the same feeling on this and thought it was just me. I really dislike when people try and touch my chair to help. If we say no, we mean no. In a polite assertive manner of course."

Another user said: "I just don't want my wheelchair broken! It took so much time and energy to get and the money needed to replace or repair it, along with the time and energy, would be more than I have."

Someone else wrote: "Thanks for talking about this. I once asked a man if he'd like a bit of a push when he was struggling to mount a curb. He said 'yes, thanks very much'.

"It started a whole conversation about this kind of thing, how inappropriate (and frankly scary) it was when even well-intentioned people just started pushing him around."