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| Me being an idiot |
My current wheelchair has its limits, granted, the main limit is the idiot that's sitting in it, but if I don't have much input on propelling the chair, then it doesn't matter. Unless I drive into someone. Or something. Either are likely but we'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it.
I searched Google for 'mobility Stafford' on the off chance there was a local store. There was! About fifteen minutes away. Easy Living Mobility. They deal mainly with motorised wheelchairs and mobility scooters as well as walking aids like rollators and furniture like Rise & Recline Chairs. Most importantly they had people I could talk too, to help me with where to start in knowing which motorised wheelchair is right for me. I had spoken to Nathan on the phone and made an appointment to come and see him. I then phoned Community Link and ordered a wheelchair taxi.
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| Freedom A06 |
He asked me about budget, what I was looking for, speed, range etc and I answered quite vaguely. I wasn't being difficult, actually I probably was, but not on purpose. I didn't really know where to start as I wasn't sure what I wanted or needed. The only help I offered was it needed to be lightweight and foldable so it can be transported in the boot of a car. Oh and it only needed to handle suburban terrain like footpaths and roads.
I had noticed that many of the wheelchairs said 'try before you buy' on the website. He said that means you can try the chair in the shop and outside the shop before you buy it. I explained I was keen to take it home and try it for about a week, I wanted to use it multiple times and over several days to see what it's comfort was like. I didn't want to buy something that will give me aches and pains after a few days use. He had a Freedom A06, which was an ex display model that I could take home and try for ten pounds a day, and a security deposit incase I drive it into things.
As if I would do that!
With the same knowledge and expertise I offered earlier, I gave it a thorough testing (I took it for a very brief spin in the shop), deemed it acceptable handed over my security deposit and phoned my Dad to pick up me and my growing family of two foldable wheelchairs.
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| How to fold |
I wasn't what you would call a natural when it came to driving it. My spacial awareness is terrible. I thought I could judge where the sides of the wheelchair were. I couldn't. I'm sure the chair widened by about an inch when it was near something I could bump into.
I hadn't driven since 2009, which is suspicious because I had my operation in 2007. I may have tried driving in a car park to see if the bit of brain they removed was important. Seemingly it was.
I dumped my manual chair in the house for the newer sexier model, to use around the house to try and get used to the control. I was constantly bumping into walls and the door frames were barely wide enough to get through. This chair wasn't any wider than my manual, but I was nervous of scuffing this one and losing my security deposit. As you can tell from the door frames around my house, I'm not so careful normally. After about an hour I was back begging my manual for forgiveness and telling it I'd made a terrible mistake. I decided to only use the new sexier one outdoors.
It was incredibly tricky to get around where the space is limited. E.g. Most of the footpath is taken up by an overgrown bush. It would be too close to the bush so I would tap the control 'right', but it would be heading for the road now. My attempts to correct it would cause it to go towards the bush again.
It was quite quick. There are about six speed settings to choose from, the sixth setting unleashes the full might of the 200W brushless motor. However, after almost crashing into a wall previously, I left it on setting two, which offers around one third of the available power.
Over the next few days I drove it a few times to and from my parents house with my Dad walking beside me. I didn't feel safe in it. The controls were far too sensitive, it was impossible to go in a straight line. I would zig zag to get to a destination straight in front of me. It's direction seemed to be dictated by the terrain. I would be driving along the path just minding my own business, when the direction of the front wheels would suddenly turn towards the drop curb, even though I immediately pointed the joystick away from the drop curb, it would seem to have no effect until I was dangerously close to the road.
Assuming my years of not being in control of anything that moves was the issue, I practiced driving around my estate. No matter how slow I drove, I still struggled to precisely control it, the sensitivity meant it would turn if you simply thought about tapping the stick. There was a small path that took me out by the main road. Feeling brave, I drove out to the main road. For comical effect I pretended the cars scared me. Honest, it was pretend.
My week loan was at an end and I took it back to Easy Living Mobility.
I'd already spoken to Aby a few days earlier over the phone and told her that I was struggling with the sensitivity and it's lack of stability and control. I'd only had it for a few days at this point though, so I was willing to accept my lack of experience/ability was to blame and would improve with practice. It didn't really improve though and I was pretty sure the wheelchair was the problem, not me. Aby had suggested the iM.4 Elite over the phone, it was much more suited to my requirements. It was on display at the moment but there was an identical model called iM.4 Voyager, the only difference being it can hold a passenger upto a weight of 28.5 stone or 181kg rather than the 21 stone or 133kg of the Elite...
Look out for part II 'My quest to get a motorised wheelchair'
