Why does Kai need a wheelchair?
I have hypermobility. What this means is my body is much less good than most bodies are at producing collagen, one of the building blocks that holds together our muscles and joints and enables us to move around or maintain a sitting or standing posture. I also have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, which means my nervous system sends a lot of excess pain signals and I can get fatigued from doing normal tasks or just from moving around.
Help Kai pay off his wheelchair.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of friends, last year I was able to source a second hand all-terrain wheelchair. I've had to pause my payment plan for this and really want to pay the rest off as soon as possible. Some of the funds raised will go towards finishing paying off the existing chair.
Help Kai upgrade his wheelchair!
Since last year the stability of my spine and my use of my shoulders and arms have dramatically decreased. I've been finding it much harder to get out of the house, and haven't been able to use the wheelchair because it's too much strain on my shoulders. The company who made the chair can send me an electric adapter, which would convert it to an all-terrain electric wheelchair, which would be incredible. I'd be able to use it to travel around much more safely and sustainably. But the electric adapters cost £2,700, and once it was here I'd also need to pay someone to install it onto the chair.
Why do these things cost so much?
Good question! All-terrain wheelchairs are specialized equipment, and are made by a handful of comparatively small companies. My wheelchair has a lower seat than a standard chair, it has extremely sturdy suspension, and the big wheels are at the front instead of at the back. Instead of two additional small wheels at the back it has a rugged third wheel. These features mean that it's much safer for me to use. It's a lot harder to tip over than a conventional wheelchair. It's better at going over uneven ground, including things like taking my kids and dog onto grassy or muddy areas (something I'd not be able to do in a regular wheelchair) and it's also safer on my joints, causing less jarring or jolting if I need to navigate an uneven path or go over cracks in a pavement.
Having the right kind of equipment for this now will help to stave off and reduce further damage to my body, meaning I'll hopefully be able to hang on to more of my mobility for longer, while still increasing my current activity levels and giving me back more capacity to get out of the house.
