Segway Wheelchair

Hi, my name is Graeme.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 1989.

I have never asked for help, I never relied on the government, I just ‘got on with it’. However, I have come across a practical hurdle I cannot overcome, so, I am asking for your help.

I have the slow progressive form. At the end of 2013, it morphed into stage 2 and the progression has been noticeably faster.

Facing a chronic condition is half mind/attitude and half body/medical.

For me, the mind has been the most important, how I see myself.

In 1989 I could still go for a bushwalk of perhaps 5 kilometers. In 2013 I was down to one kilometre with a walking stick, as long at the temperature was below 20 degrees (the slightest rise in body temperature and my body just comes to a stop).

Still, not bad after 20 years.

I put it down to how I perceived myself and a focus on eating well, exercize, no smoking, very little drinking ….. most of all, a positive attitude.

Until now, I saw MS as a separate part of me, something that I dragged along behind. I conned myself into believing I was doing all I wanted to do, and life was good. It was still a daily effort to live with, and un-seen by me it had forced me into a tiny world. I did not notice because I was like that tale of a frog being slowly boiled alive (though, the sensations in my body are about the same ….. and I can’t jump out of the water!)

In 2012 after 16 years of marriage my wife noticed the tiny world and left me with the words, “I am not going to waste my life looking after you”. It is never quite as simple as that, but you get the gist.

If you have MS, then you should avoid major stress. Unfortunately, it does not avoid you.

When I clicked over to Stage 2 in 2013, my walking quickly became erratic and now it is an effort to get from my bedroom to the bathroom. It is a herculean effort to go shopping. I did not notice my tiny world before, but I do now, and it is closing in, inexorably, it is closing in.

Initially my approach was the same as it had always been, ‘Battle on’, ‘use it or lose I’, “I do not need a wheelchair”.

Then I saw some amazing videos on Youtube about people who see wheelchairs as freedom, as a way of enhancing their life, as a way to overcome the restrictions their bodies were placing on them http://bit.ly/2azdOyJ

One young guy uses his wheelchair the same way his peers used skateboards. He had spinal bifida from birth and nothing was going to stop him http://bit.ly/1fElwS4

So, I went out and bought a wheelchair. Silly me. The smallest amount of physical activity and my body stops because the body temperature rises.

So, how do I propel myself?

MS is insidious, it creeps through your entire body. The dream of ‘freedom’ had been snatched away.

More research.

There are many ways to propel a wheelchair. A wife would be best (big smile) but she had disappeared long ago.

For me, the best is a mobility device called ‘The Genny 2 Self-Balancing wheelchair’

It has broken the mould of what a wheelchair looks like and can do.

I truly wish I had one many many years ago.

Apart from not being able to propel myself any distance in a standard wheelchair, people look at you as a cripple, you become invisible at best, you are patronized. The most important thing that has kept me going all these years, my mind/attitude, how I see myself, is rapidly changing. I am starting to see myself as a cripple. I am determined to not let that happen.

The Genny 2 Self-Balancing wheelchair can change that. It will give me back my mobility, and, equally important, my self-respect. The MS will go back to where it should be, a small dark corner of my life, not dominating my life.

It costs $A35,000 and I simply do not have that kind of money.

So, I am asking for support.

If I can get one I undertake to let as many people know as possible, through the MS Society, Social Media, I will set up a Blog, I will make videos and post on YouTube, not to sell the product but to give as many people back their self-respect as I can.

It you search Genny 2 segway in Youtube you will find some videos. This is my favourite as it shows the person I want to be http://bit.ly/2j1dcGt

You can buy it in Australia from ‘Independent Living Centres Australia’ http://bit.ly/2iVPF7j

Thank you