Adventures in an Electric Wheelchair - Part 7
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Hello Red Cabbage Heads
How is the world with my fellow chronics? For the new people I have ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) often know as CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) a name I disagree with and dislike greatly as it doesn’t encompass in any way all that ME is. I include it purely as that’s what a lot of people know. I’ve been living with this disease for 15+ years and I’ve tried an awful lot of things, to help, 99% of which haven’t.
If you have not been following my journey this is the story of my persuading myself that I deserve to spend an extortionate amount of money on an electric wheelchair so that I can experience the wide world again having been sat on the sofa wishing I could go outside and experience all I could rather than live through Rs stories.
I tested a couple of chairs and chose the Mountain Trike, an off-road chair, as I wanted to go on decent dog walks. We found a second hand one up near Durham and after going to see it, bought it. We needed to get the electric kit added, so ordered it and waited. It was ready just before Xmas and we picked it up just after New Year.
Having now got 2, yes 2 I’m greedy, electric chairs I decided to sell my manual one. I posted it on Facebook marketplace or at least I tried to. Apparently it is against community guidelines to post mobility aids for sale there. An appalling policy in my opinion.
Anyway, I managed to get it up on a local group and was contacted by a lovely lady about it. When the lady arrived she needed, really needed a wheelchair. She really needed an electric chairs, but was struggling to allow herself to have the aids she so desperately needed. (I didn’t ask her diagnosis as it was none of my business but I suspected MND or Parkinson’s) She was so grateful for our understanding of her needs and supporting her in her search for an aid. I could tell her support person, daughter maybe, had been telling her she should get a chair for a while and finally persuaded her. As she left, with this chair, she thanked me again for the support. And I told her that every one deserves the aids they need to have a good life.
She nearly brought me to tears. This is the society we live in, where disabled people feel bad for wanting to use an aid to make their easier. She will use the chair for a while I expect and then realise she may be better with an electric one. It gives you that feeling of independence that is so important when you are losing so much.
Anyway, that’s all.
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It is so frustrating that you cannot sell (and therefore buy) wheelchairs and disability aids on Facebook, so many people need these aids and are unable to afford the exorbitant prices that new ones cost. I would happily purchase 2nd hand it is just trying to find the place to buy from! I am glad you were able to give this lady the independence she needed
‘It gives you that feeling of independence that is so important when you are losing so much.’ This says so much 🤍