Seriously! How heavy is the wheelchair. Oatie has the most basic one that you can get... it's the only one that or healthcare system would contribute to... and it so heavy!
It's wheels and a basic frame... there isn't really a seat it's a hammock... and nothing to the back rest... the wheels do come off but that's not the heavy part... I'm no wall flower either... and even Oatie's temporary aide who was a man said it was heavy.....
I lifted it once during pregnancy with my eldest and I wished I never had... it wrenched all my ligaments under my bump and i hurt for an entire week... so my husband has kindly (I am happy about this) forbid me to lift it until I have recovered from kitkat...
I have looked online and there are aluminium rails that you can unfold and wheel it up that way, my husband said that the amount of force to push it up that is worse than lifting it...
You would think in this day and age that they would make them lighter... I understand that they don't want them tipping back or forwards... but his wheel chair has the stabiliser wheels at the back... anyway as without it tips back.
I should be grateful as at least it's cost share with the government... and I should be grateful that they LET him have a new one... but it still weighs a tonne!
AND it is rubbish in the snow! does anyone have any good tips for wheelchairs in the snow? it's snowy here for 6 months of the year....
Wheelchairs are big money makers for medical supply companies. We have an ultra light UK made chunc which cost insurance about 8,500; three years later Adam's arches out of it with spasms. Best chair we got about a year ago, I purchased on amazon for about 900.00...light, folds up. comes apart, comfortable and the back articulates from the seat so it almost goes flat; and someone is still making a lot of money. Wheelchairs are not designed for the needs of people who use them...
ReplyDeletePhil is correct, durable medical goods industry makes a healthy profit from wheelchair sales. In the USA the wheelchair business is guided by the insurance industry. There is a price point insurance companies will meet but not exceed. Wheelchairs are designed to meet this price point. Thus the high end market for a light weight and durable wheelchair is exceedingly small. In short, the needs of the user are not an important variable nor is the life expectancy of the wheelchair. Manual wheelchairs have not changed much since the rigid frame was invented in the early 1980s. I have only seen on wheelchair that is revolutionary in terms of design and weight. The problem is it costs over $11,000. I can get a good used car at that price.
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