You may have seen the ad on TV last night promoting "Get Black on Your Feet" - a collaborative campaign between the New Zealand Rugby Foundation, New Zealand Spinal Trust and The CatWalk Trust. According to the PR it aims to raise funds and awareness for prevention, rehabilitation and cure of spinal cord injuries.

It features a young boy, a young woman and disability show Attitude presenter Dan Buckingham – all in wheelchairs - beckoning with emotive pleas to help them jump, dance and run again. It boasts a clever creative approach, splitting the screen at their waists to show non-disabled legs in a fantasy of what they can no longer do.

And it sets the disability rights movement back 20 years.

Though I feel terribly uncharitable in my reaction, I have to say this kind of high profile stunt makes me sick. Having campaigned for half my life to promote the value of diversity, it is disappointing to see disabled people themselves supporting the pitiful idea that nothing in the world is better than the common act of walking.

Last night the nation sat in their living rooms and were told once again that people like me do nothing else but dream that I'm not how I am. Anyone recovering from an injury, on the brink of realising their life has meaning even though they will never walk again, will have had their hopes dashed.

But what annoys me most is that New Zealanders will give their valuable income to support the medical fraternity to sink millions into trying to find a cure through stem cell research. What a waste of time, money and energy.

Last year I approached a high-profile New Zealander for help to set up a foundation that would raise money to make environments accessible, so it wouldn't matter if you were in a wheelchair, you could still get around easily. This person declined – it wasn't sexy enough.

Seeing the "Get Black on Your Feet" campaign has has reignited my resolve. Society needs to get real that being off your feet is fine – life goes on. The money wasted on stem cell fantasies could be better invested in retrofitting the environment, educating architects to avoid inaccessible designs in future and developing technology that could bridge the gap where gravity and nature prevail.

Please share your thoughts, even briefly  — would you support a "Get Real" campaign? Would you invest money into making a unique difference rather than perpetuating a common fantasy?