‘While I was in it, I didn’t feel disabled…’
It was this comment by Ed – made to his partner Lesley (aka ‘Spider’) – that convinced the couple to order an Omeo wheelchair after a home trial of our tech.
Ed’s Omeo arrived in April 2023. Since then it hasn’t just transformed his life for the better – it’s changed Spider’s life too.
‘It’s been completely life-changing for us both,’ she says.
‘Getting down to the water’s edge on the beach in Cornwall, dancing together for the first time at my nephew’s wedding… there have been lots of happy tears.’
Choosing an easy way to try our tech
Spider had first spotted the Omeo wheelchair on Facebook. ‘She was very enthusiastic,’ Ed recalls, but he was more sceptical.
‘I’ve been a wheelchair user for 40 years. As a paraplegic and through my previous career helping to design and build medical equipment, I’d tried every piece of outdoor kit out there. I saw the Omeo’s price and said I’m not prepared to go to that.’
But Spider convinced Ed to arrange an Omeo trial with our director Matt. Booking a home trial is one of three easy ways Adapt Ability offers to try our tech.
‘Matt spent two and a half hours with me and that was the turning point,’ says Ed.
‘He’s very aware of his customer’s needs. He’s got heart, passion, patience and experience and he wants to pass that on.
‘When I saw how excited Matt was in his Omeo wheelchair – that was the moment I thought this wheelchair might actually do what it says on the box.’
Although Ed rides Harley-Davidson trikes and has ‘good balance and coordination’, he was still quite nervous at first.
‘It was the way the Omeo moves with the body,’ he explains. ‘But we went up and down my cul-de-sac more than 30 times and within the first hour I knew the Omeo was for me.’
Getting down to the beach
Ed (and Spider) have certainly been making the most of his Omeo wheelchair since it arrived.
‘My first need was to go to the beach in Cornwall,’ says Ed. ‘In 40 years I’ve never been able to go onto the beach and sit beside the waves. I’ve tried everything and nothing would allow it.
‘In the Omeo, I was going up and down that beach like a maniac! I was crying.’
It was a memorable day for Spider, too.
‘In the past, Ed always had to stay at the top of the beach while I took his assistance dog Raven down. I’d feel guilty,’ she says.
‘Seeing him that first time in Cornwall last year, down by the waves, picking up shells and rocks, the smile on his face… I cried a lot that day.’
Taking to the dancefloor
Spider’s nephew’s wedding was another day when Ed’s Omeo wheelchair proved ‘absolutely life-changing’.
‘Before my Omeo I had another power chair but I looked disabled in it – and I felt disabled in it too,’ says Ed. ‘It was the best I could get at the time, but it was cumbersome and restrictive.
‘In the Omeo, we were up on the dancefloor at the wedding and I felt like Superman!
‘People loved it. They wanted to know where it had come from and if anyone could buy one.’
Lesley agrees. ‘The wedding was a completely different experience for Ed. I have a big family and he’s always been a bit self-conscious. In the Omeo he was a different person – so relaxed, more confident, chatting to everybody. We had our first dance together. It was amazing.’
Putting the Omeo through its paces
With the couple both self-confessed ‘petrol heads’, the Omeo has also enabled them to have even more fun on their frequent trips to Harley-Davidson and other popular biker events and shows.
Ed’s even taken his Omeo wheelchair down the track at the famous Santa Pod Raceway near Wellingborough – home of the FIA’s action-packed European Drag Racing Championships.
Maybe it’s a good thing its top speed is ‘only’ 12mph…
However, the Omeo isn’t just for ‘special’ occasions. Our hands-free self-balancing tech has transformed Ed and Spider’s day-to-day life too.
Gliding smoothly over uneven ground
‘We live in a tiny village outside Northampton, several miles cross country from a large retail park,’ says Ed. ‘Previously I’d need to get in the van to go there, but in the Omeo I just take Raven and we get there using country tracks.
‘That’s had a big impact on my mental health. I feel more independent. Being in the Omeo is the closest I’ve come to walking in 40 years.’
Ed’s Omeo wheelchair is also helping him recover from a more recent accident which made it difficult for him to sit up straight for several years.
‘It’s been fantastic in terms of my rehabilitation,’ he confirms. ‘I’m trying to get fit and healthy again so the Omeo couldn’t have come at a better time.
‘In the Omeo I can sit up straight. It helps build up my muscles. It’s comfortable because it glides across uneven ground – it doesn’t bounce me around.’
A life-changing piece of tech
And now the couple can both get through ‘kissing’ gates, they can do more (and longer) country walks together both locally and further afield.
‘On holiday we walked for miles – we never ran out of charge,’ says Spider. ‘We’ve just got some newer off-road tyres and we’re planning to try them out too.’
So the future looks like even more of an ‘open road’…
‘When I became a wheelchair-user, you couldn’t even get on a train in Ireland,’ Ed concludes. ‘In the last 40 years, I’ve seen the world change. Mobility equipment has really changed too.
‘The Omeo won’t be right for everyone but, if you are able to use it, it’s absolutely life-changing.
‘Spider and I get stopped everywhere we go but now no-one asks unwelcome and intrusive questions, like they used to. They just want to know about my Omeo wheelchair.’
Want to take an Omeo wheelchair for a spin? Choose one of three easy ways to try our tech here
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