hello everyone. I am looking for some advice. I am wondereing if I should rent or buy a wheelchair. I am RR and can walk a little but my worry is this: I have some friends coming to visit from US and I know they’re going to want to touristy things. Living in the West Midlands this means places like Stratford and Warwick. I have been pottering on, using sticks or a rolator depending but I KNOW I wont be able to stay mobile and keep up with them - or even, being honest here, going anywhere fun further away than than half an hour. Buy or rent, oh and self proppeled or small whheeled; I think I ought to be able to do some propelling.What do you think folks?
Do not buy; very expensive and there is the maintenance. Suggest you loan one from the Red Cross http://www.redcross.org.uk/ then if you feel you need one long term ask your GP to get Social Services to assess you for one.
Red Cross lend out wheelchairs on a short term basis and I would go for a self propelled if I was you as it gives some flexibility. Why don’t you borrow one first to see how you get on? Also if you are going somewhere touristy see if they have a scooter you can book out which saves someone pushing you. Many of these places do - castles, stately homes, country parks etc and Stratford upon Avon may well have a shop mobility scheme that will allow you to borrow a scooter for a few hours - long enough to do the touristy thing. In the medium term if you feel you are moving towards needing a wheelchair then ask for an assessment from wheelchair services who will assess what type of chair you need and then either provide one or give you a voucher towards buying one. That will all take a while though so if you feel you are heading that way it might be worth getting the ball rolling. Good luck.
Hi Clare may I humbly suggest that you rent or buy a small classIII mobility scooter.Providing it can be lifted in and out of a car by whoever and assembled/dis the benefits are: You won’t need to be pushed in a chair,or knacker yourself propelling on the flat,you can go wherever they can apart from stairs,you can go wherever they/you want to,you can whizz out day after day and you’d have to slow down for them.
stans mum makes some good points,but there is nothing stopping you using a stick,rollypolly,wheelchair and scooter.There are ways and means of having the use of the last two to suit your plans or need to exercise.
Hi, stans mum has said everything I was going to say.
I used shopmobility for a couple of years, before I bought my own wheels. So many places lend them now. But it would be useful to get some training first. Your wheelchair services can provide this, if you ask for an assessment.