When her second-hand motorised mobility scooter finally gave out in June, burlesque artist Empress Eyrie was left heartbroken and "stranded at home".
For the Belconnen performer who prefers to be known only by her stage name, the stage is her true sanctuary.
Across hundreds of show-stopping performances in Canberra and around Australia, she has dazzled audiences with her music and dance. But behind the sequins and spotlight, the 36-year-old artist has been quietly battling fibromyalgia, severe arthritis and neurological nerve damage for more than a decade.
But she spent July and August isolated indoors.
"I was reversing my scooter and crashed at the bottom of the street," Ms Eyrie recalled about the incident at a Kingston bus stop.
While she escaped without physical injury, her worst fears soon materialised. The scooter began to fail. Though she managed a temporary fix to keep moving, her luck ran out a few months later.
"In June, I took it to a mobility store and was told the steering column was bent and the scooter was irreparable," she said.
The news shattered her. Without her primary mode of transport, she spent July and August isolated indoors.
"It was my only way to get around," a teary-eyed Ms Eyrie said.
"I was stranded. I had no work, and the stress on my health even began affecting my memory."
Approaching the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for a replacement wasn't even an afterthought, let alone an option.
A previous, failed attempt and thousands of dollars spent on doctor certificates to prove a permanent disability remains a recurring nightmare.
Diagnosed in 2018, Ms Eyrie recalled her harrowing ordeal trying to navigate the NDIS bureaucracy.
"I spent thousands of dollars on specialists just to prove my disability, only for the initial certificates to expire before I even received the final ones," she said.
"I have a friend on the NDIS who has been waiting seven months just for an electric wheelchair. It's a horrible kind of hamster wheel."
Australia's independent statutory agency supporting people with disability "is insanely difficult to get into," the artist says.
The federal government's proposed social funding cuts to the NDIS has come as a blow to the disability arts sector in Australia with many arts groups worried about the fallout.
So, Ms Eyrie decided to find her own way and Canberra's arts and burlesque community stepped in to help save the day.
Through a swift crowdfunding campaign, support from a local disability foundation, and her own modest savings, Ms Eyrie raised $4700 to buy herself a brand-new mobility scooter in early September.
With her freedom restored, the dancer is back on her feet and pouring her heart into rehearsals for her upcoming show in the city on November 20.
"The disability model is all about adapting and overcoming," she said with a smile.
