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Multiple Realities
(Covers information from Both Timelines)


Locke was in a wheelchair for 4 years prior to the crash of Flight 815. He was pushed out a window by his father ("The Man from Tallahassee"), paralyzing him from the waist down as seen several times, notably in "Walkabout". Following the crash, Locke's paralysis was miraculously healed and he again had full use of his legs. Several other wheelchairs have also been depicted as being used by other characters.

Pre-Crash[]

After falling from eight stories, Locke was upset to hear that he would have to use a wheelchair. ("The Man from Tallahassee") While undergoing physical therapy at the hospital, Locke was met by Matthew Abaddon, posing as an orderly, who suggested he take a walkabout. ("Cabin Fever") Shortly before the crash, Locke was denied entry to a Walkabout Tour of Australia by a Travel Agent of the Melbourne Walkabout Tours. As the agent left the room, Locke exclaimed, "Don't ever tell me what I can't do! Ever!" ("Walkabout") At the Sydney Airport, Rose accidentally dropped her bottle of pills, and Locke picked it up and handed it to her. Rose saw that Locke was in a wheelchair and remembered this fact after the crash. ("S.O.S.")

Post-Crash[]

Wheelchairhelp

JD and Michelle help Locke to his seat in "Exodus, Part 2".

  • Locke was often sensitive about the wheelchair. He looked at it thoughtfully while the fuselage burned at the end of "Walkabout". Later, following the injury he incurred in "Lockdown", Kate mentioned that they had a wheelchair pulled from the wreckage, unaware that the wheelchair was Locke's to begin with. He quickly refused, opting to use crutches instead.
  • Earlier in "Walkabout", another survivor is seen using the wheelchair to transport firewood into the fuselage.
  • Locke became confined to his wheelchair in his vision quest inside the sweat lodge. ("Further Instructions")
  • In "The Man from Tallahassee" Ben was wheeled around the Barracks in a wheelchair. He and Locke made several comparisons about how Ben was now the one in a wheelchair and Locke was not.

Post-Wheel turning[]

After Locke turned the frozen wheel to stop the time-jumping of the remaining Oceanic 815 and Kahana crew on the island, he was transported to the Tunisian desert. Because he had broken his leg when he fell down the well to the wheel room, Locke had to use a wheelchair while convincing the Oceanic 6 members around the world to return to the Island. ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham")


Flash sideways[]

6x04 Season6 Substitute

John Locke as a substitute teacher in "The Substitute".

After Oceanic flight 815 safely landed at LAX, Locke had to be assited to his wheelchair by Oceanic stewards and stewardesses. Although he still was depressed by his inability to walk, with the help of Rose he got over his anger and delusions that he could do anything people with the ability to walk could do.   ("The Substitute")

After school one day, Locke was wheeling himself to his van when Desmond ran him over with his car, catapulting him over the vehicle. ("Everybody Loves Hugo")

6x14 Coopers wheelchair

Cooper's wheelchair in "The Candidate".

While operating on Locke's ruptured dural sac, Jack got a look at the initial injury to Locke's spine that put him in a wheelchair. Afterwards, Jack told Locke that he was a candidate for a new procedure, a surgery the hospital was developing. If it worked, it would restore feeling to Locke's legs, and he might even be able to walk again. However, Locke refused the operation. When Jack tried to find out why Locke didn't want to be cured, he discovered that Locke's father was injured in the same accident that had happened to Locke. As a consequence, Cooper was in a catatonic state and bound to a wheelchair as well. Locke disclosed that they were in a airplane crash that he had accidentally caused himself. Feeling guilty that the man who he loved more than anything would never walk or talk, he refused to be helped himself. ("The Candidate")

Visions[]

Main article: Locke's dreams
AuctionWheelchair

Locke's wheelchair as seen at Lost: The Auction.

  • In episode "Deus Ex Machina", Locke had a dream of Boone all bloody, and suddenly saw himself in a wheelchair. He panicked and exclaimed, "No, no, please... Don't take it back." He suddenly woke up, and the first thing he did was check his legs, relieved that that was a dream.
  • In episode "?", Locke had a dream in which he appeared as Eko (but retained his limp), and was instructed to climb to the top of the cliff over the Beechcraft. When he got to the top, he was surprised by an image of Yemi sitting in his wheelchair, and fell off the cliff. This caused him to wake with a start.
  • In the episode "Further Instructions", Locke had a vision in which he was again paralyzed, and Boone instructed him to ride in the wheelchair again.

Other wheelchair references[]

Wheelchairs have also been depicted in scenes with other characters.

BenJackTruce3x13

Ben in a wheelchair shortly after his operation in "The Man from Tallahassee".

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