We spent the morning looking at scooters for my husband. Requirements are: it must be safe and stable, it must be lightweight enough for me to put in car boot.
He has a carbon fibre power chair that he uses indoors but it scares him on narrow pavements as it is SO touch sensitive. He can only use his left hand and his right leg flops over sideways when seated but I think we could strap that to the left leg to make it safer. He cannot stand unaided.
He tried out a Drive carbon fibre scooter for £2999. It weighed 13 kg without battery but folded nicely. I tried lifting it in the boot and it was heavier than I wanted but the Manager said it was the lightest he had. I have Tennis Elbow and wouldn’t want to be lifting that in and out too often. Also today was boiling hot so only had T shirt on and in winter I would have big coat etc which would make handling more difficult.
I just don’t know where to look next. Any advice welcome.
The one you tried sounds like it is one of the lightest on the market. I had ine that was lightweight & that was around 19kg if I recall.
Have a look at this post by Bobbi. He is right side paralysed and has found a way to get his scooter in the car with one hand and without needing help..
Hello Trisha@Trisha2,
I understand the weight issue and you are correct to be cautious. My wife sometimes struggles with my powered wheelchair. After much searching, we found a lightweight folding chair that weighs just 11kgs.The chair and motor cost about £1250.and we have twice successfully taken it on planes. The motor and powerpack detach and it is easy to get into the car. There are also electric hoists that lift the folding chair into the boot (if it is big enough) but they cost about £2000. Another alternative is a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV). We went to a recent exhibition at Eden Camp near MALTON run by ALLIED MOBILITY and saw a good range of WAVs. They have a ramp, up which a chair or scooter can be loaded into the vehicle with the aid of an electric winch. The Peugeot vehicles cost about £33,000 fully adapted. You can get several vehicle types adapted for about £7000. Being disabled is an expensive business !!
Best of luck with your search. There are plenty of Care companies and if you are anywhere near Leeds, West Yorkshire, not Kent ! CareCo, near Elland Road football stadium, have a great selection. Do not be pressured by an enthusiastic salesman and make sure you test it (whatever you choose) at home !
Bob Isle.
That’s very impressive Bobbi! So pleased you can do that.
Unfortunately my husband cannot stand unaided and cannot use his right hand at all.
It will all be down to me. My boot has quite a large lip to go over too.
No idea what we are going to do as I cannot keep pushing him around on sloping, narrow pavements. Maybe I should start a weight lifting course!
Been doing that all day. There’s an advert on TV a lot for scooters that you can take on planes etc and it looks great. Moving Life is the company. I spoke to them but they weigh 16 kg minimum and the man I spoke confused me as he says it might weigh up to 23 kg.
Their advert show a very slender lady lifting it up very easily! Not this lady!!
Hello Trisha@Trisha2,
I’m lucky, in that I can stand unaided but it is my left arm/hand that is useless at present, but I am working hard to get it going.It was the same with my left leg, but I’ve largely overcome that - patience is a virtue… !!!
By the way I think you may be confusing me with another regular forum contributor(Bobbi).
Beware the Moving Life TV ad.- some firms, fully aware of weight being critical to Carers, quote the weight of the chair WITHOUT BATTERY and the battery is often heavier than the chair! And then they use a GB tri-athlete to demo lifting the chair into the overhead locker !
Some chairs/scooters have separate battery and power units - now, that’s a good trick - the battery weighs 15 kgs. but the power unit weighs 16kgs!Which takes the overall weight above some airlines limit.s It is a wicked world we inhabit!
yes I’ve seen the Moving Life adverts with man just popping the folded scooter above his head into an overhead locker!
We met a man on a Muick Sandy scooter and he is pleased with it and his wife says she can get it into their car boot OK so we have a rep coming out to let us trial one.
We have ordered a Muick Sandy one as it is light enough for me to lift into car boot. It is also stable enough when my husband is on it. He did a lengthy test drive around our garden and on a car park. Should get it next week.
