Luckily, I was at home and not travelling away from home when I arrived in Vancouver, and my husband picked me up at the airport. Once I was transported in an airport wheelchair to my car and was able to get home, my husband was able to assist me. I had a spare wheelchair at home, luckily. Many people do not.
As traumatic as it was—and I really didn't realize how traumatic being without my chair would be—my experience was rectified quite quickly by the airline, in my case.