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ContactHard Pushed - Gary's story
Gary Anderson is waiting for an NHS voucher to go towards the cost of a new powered wheelchair with the features he needs.
Gary Anderson was born in 1990. He has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. By the time Gary was seven, he found it increasingly difficult to walk and was given a manual wheelchair by the NHS. A year later, to increase his independence at school he was given an NHS powered wheelchair.
Gary’s mother, Jackie, said, “Gary’s powered chair was a reconditioned one from the NHS. The wheelchair service adapted it as Gary grew, using wooden blocks. So we applied for another assessment. We waited and waited and it wasn’t until his old chair became unsafe that we got an emergency assessment.
“We got the new, reconditioned chair a year ago. Within two months it needed new wheels and then two weeks after that one wheel became loose and nearly came off! Four weeks later the batteries need replacing. The chair came without a tray, and eventually the wheelchair service built a special one to fit onto the chair. To make matters worse, the chair squeaks, which is very embarrassing for Gary at school.
“Surely it would have been much cheaper in the long run to give Gary a chair which didn’t need repairing all the time?
“Gary’s about to have spinal surgery and he’s already grown quite a bit so the chair he’s got now is really too small. The occupational therapists have been great and told us he needs a tilt in space mechanism so he can remain comfortable in the chair. But it’s a real struggle to get through to the wheelchair services on the phone and the waiting lists are far too long. The whole process can take up to a year, which is such a long time in the lives of disabled children.
“Now we’re hoping to get a voucher from the wheelchair service and we’ll have to raise the rest of the money to get Gary the chair that meets his needs properly.
”Many families aren’t able to raise much funding themselves. The NHS should find the money needed to provide the right chair when it’s needed. The standard NHS chair just isn’t suitable for children with progressive conditions. Chairs with tilt in space and which go up and down may be expensive, but these are exceptional conditions."
Gary Anderson was born in 1990. He has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. By the time Gary was seven, he found it increasingly difficult to walk and was given a manual wheelchair by the NHS. A year later, to increase his independence at school he was given an NHS powered wheelchair.
Gary’s mother, Jackie, said, “Gary’s powered chair was a reconditioned one from the NHS. The wheelchair service adapted it as Gary grew, using wooden blocks. So we applied for another assessment. We waited and waited and it wasn’t until his old chair became unsafe that we got an emergency assessment.“We got the new, reconditioned chair a year ago. Within two months it needed new wheels and then two weeks after that one wheel became loose and nearly came off! Four weeks later the batteries need replacing. The chair came without a tray, and eventually the wheelchair service built a special one to fit onto the chair. To make matters worse, the chair squeaks, which is very embarrassing for Gary at school.
“Surely it would have been much cheaper in the long run to give Gary a chair which didn’t need repairing all the time?
“Gary’s about to have spinal surgery and he’s already grown quite a bit so the chair he’s got now is really too small. The occupational therapists have been great and told us he needs a tilt in space mechanism so he can remain comfortable in the chair. But it’s a real struggle to get through to the wheelchair services on the phone and the waiting lists are far too long. The whole process can take up to a year, which is such a long time in the lives of disabled children.
“Now we’re hoping to get a voucher from the wheelchair service and we’ll have to raise the rest of the money to get Gary the chair that meets his needs properly.
”Many families aren’t able to raise much funding themselves. The NHS should find the money needed to provide the right chair when it’s needed. The standard NHS chair just isn’t suitable for children with progressive conditions. Chairs with tilt in space and which go up and down may be expensive, but these are exceptional conditions."
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