“You can tell a lot of thought went into the design of this chair. It’s very well thought out.”

To those of you who are regular visitors to bespoken you will be well aware that our front page has featured regular updates from Rich’s blog. Well last week, in what was my first trans-Atlantic phone call, I got to speak to the man himself who lives in Northern New York.

About Rich

A retired teacher and a bespoken member since 2012, Rich is a C6 complete paraplegic. He sustained his injury when he was body surfing whilst on holiday in the Virgin Islands some 15 years ago. All was going well until a massive wave caught him in a bad spot and drove him down to the bottom. He miraculously resurfaced but had suffered some terrible injuries.

Rich’s new wheelchair

That was back in 1999 and Rich has been a wheelchair user since then. And although the recovery process was long and hard, Rich has not allowed his disability to prevent him from doing the things he loves. However, he does of course need the right equipment to do this.

We noticed in a photo in one of his most recent blog posts, that Rich was using a fairly unusual looking wheelchair that allowed him to tilt right back. In the photo Rich looks particularly relaxed and comfortable, and we just had to ask him what the model was.

It was in fact the Permobil C350 Corpus. And Rich is full of praise for this wheelchair which he has had for about a year now. The surgery he underwent following his accident left him particularly sensitive to pressure which, in his previous chair, was always concentrated on his lower back and behind. In short, it was extremely uncomfortable. Of the Permobil though Rich had this to say - “the entire chair tilts back and spreads my body weight, so It’s worked really well to relieve pressure sores”. A self-described “big man” at 6 feet 4 inches, we can only imagine how much relief Rich gets from his new chair which allows him to lean right back as well as bring his feet up almost all the way.

One of Rich’s favourite moments of the day, during the warmer months, is early in the morning when the sun is beaming down on the side of his house and he can put his feet up and bask in the natural warmth that envelops him. “For a person who is quadriplegic”, he explains, “it can be difficult for your body to adjust to the temperature”. Being able to sit back in great comfort in his chair with the heat of the sun gently warming him is evidently something that Rich values a lot.

The outdoor model

Contrary to his previous wheelchair, which apparently broke down all the time, Rich says he’s not had a single problem with his Permobil C350. He goes on to tell me about his other chair – a 4x4 extreme wheelchair that is designed to go over pretty rough outdoor terrain.

Always a fan of the great outdoors, Rich needed a secondary chair that could allow him to carry on doing some of the activities he has always enjoyed e.g. hunting. He wasted no time in doing this and bought a wheelchair that was one of the first of its kind sold in the USA.

Whereas the Permobil is brilliant for Rich around the house and on conventional surfaces, it struggles over rough terrain. The extreme wheelchair is the opposite. Clumpy and difficult to manoeuvre indoors, it has however proven an absolute gem to Rich when it comes to his outdoor pursuits.

I’ve seen an astonishing photo of Rich hunting in his extreme wheelchair, having fashioned a device to hold his hunting rifle that he activates with his teeth! He’s not one be kept back by his disability and he’s evidently a man who doesn’t do self-pity.

Handihelp

Nowadays Rich runs his own website called handihelp which comes up with simple, albeit clever and affordable solutions to problems faced by people who have disabilities. We’ve got loads more information about handihelp on bespoken or alternatively you can visit the main website by clicking here.

Have you used a wheelchair similar to Rich’s? What was your impression of it?

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