Wheelchairs, scooters and I have a love/hate relationship. Not hate the actual chair, just the need to use one, hate the fact that my mobility is so badly affected by multiple sclerosis that walking, with a walking aid, any further than 10 to 15 yards is impossible without sitting down.
From that, you will probably realise the reason that various ways of getting around have played a part in my life in the last few years and will continue doing so.
Let’s start with scooters. There have been a couple. I remember using one for the first time, the feeling of independence was incredible. The first one bought from a mobility aids store was supposedly a mini sized model. It was certainly the smallest one on display but it was heavy and was difficult to lift into a car.
I next bought a smaller model that easily came apart to pack into a car but its batteries just weren’t up to the job, so that one was a second failure.
Next it was time to give wheelchairs a chance. I’ve had two manual ‘self-propelled’ chairs but as MS means I have very little strength on my left side, if trying to propel myself, the chair goes in left handed circles; forget a straight line. That meant my wife Lisa had to push me and, while that never bothered her, it meant that my independence was curtailed.
My doctor back in the UK recommended that I have a motorized chair ad, in due course, it was available. It was supposedly foldable but to achieve that two heavy and bulky batteries had to be disconnected and removed and lots more. In fact, to collapse that chair took about 40 minutes with a similar time to put it together again. Simply impossible without meeting the expense of getting a vehicle especially adapted to carry it without collapsing the chair.
More recently, though, I have bought one of the lightweight, foldable wheelchairs being widely advertised online by Better Products for Disabled People. Here, pictured above, is the wheelchair I bought,
Finally, I have found the perfect match for my needs. It folds and unfolds in matters of seconds. It is compact enough when folded to go in the back of our car along with the weekly shopping and is light enough, just, for my wife to lift into and out of the car.
Hey, that’s me in my new wheelchair in the HSCT centre in Moscow, with Dr Fedorenko and assistant Anastasia.
It has two sleek batteries that slide into the chair frame and is brilliant in use. It is easy to control, has the tightest of turning circles, in fact it can turn around in its own length, and can travel so far without recharging.
A couple of weeks ago, I took the chair with me to Moscow. As I was travelling alone, it made my life easy. Whether it was negotiating city streets, a bus station, hours in an airport waiting for the time for my flight, or travelling through the Moscow hospital’s maze of corridors, the new wheelchair coped and, eventually getting home, it still had more than half its charge. And no, I didn’t recharge it while away from home.
All in all, in my opinion, the BPDP wheelchair is the very best for my needs.
To see if it would suit you, just contact BPDP through its website or talk to Shaun Atkinson on Facebook.
50shadesofsun.com is the personal website of Ian Franks, who is Managing Editor (columns division) of BioNews Services. BioNews is owner of 50 disease-specific news and information websites – including MS News Today. Ian has enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, from reporter to editor, in the print media. During that career he gained a Journalist of the Year award in his native UK. He was diagnosed with MS in 2002 but continued working until mobility problems forced him to retire early in late 2006. He now lives in the south of Spain. Besides MS, Ian is also able to write about both epilepsy and cardiovascular matters from a patient’s perspective and is a keen advocate on mobility and accessibility issues.
50shadesofsun 
Nice post Ian! Looks like it folds very well considering it’s motorised.
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