The power of comfort

It wasn’t until he trialled a Magic 360 that Josh realised how comfortable you could feel in a powered wheelchair.

Josh was a daredevil 17-year-old when he injured his spine in a mountain bike crash. Unable to walk and with limited motor control in his arms, Josh left six months of intensive rehab in hospital in a basic powerchair with off-the-shelf seating, which he initially was using all day at home. “It was so uncomfortable, it was really not great” explained Josh, “so when I got a manual wheelchair to be able to go out and about in a normal car, I found that so much more comfortable to sit in, and so I became a full-time manual wheelchair user”.

Studying to gain his degree in atmospheric science, Josh relied on family members and support workers to get from A to B in his power-assisted manual chair. Unfortunately for Josh, no one told him about the possibility of even greater independence with a powerchair with improved suspension and personally-fitted seating. “I just thought, OK, it’s an electric wheelchair. They’re all like that (uncomfortable),” he explained.

Six years after leaving rehab, now qualified in his field and living with his wife in their own home in the hills on the outskirts of Melbourne, Josh has applied for funding to modify a self-drive vehicle to pursue his professional career. Looking for a powerchair with a retractable vehicle docking pin that was still suitable for the hilly outdoor terrain near his home, the Magic 360 was one of only two options available to suit his requirements. His first trial came as a big surprise to Josh. “It was so comfortable! And it was like, ‘this is what they’re (wheelchairs) actually meant to be like!’ I didn’t know any different. The old chair just wasn’t set up right for me. The backrest just wasn’t suited”

“Now I know that I should be set up right.”

Josh relies on the lift and tilt functions to navigate the hilly footpaths near his home.

Having approached us after researching the Magic 360 at length, Josh explained to our team of wheelchair experts how uncomfortable he had been in his previous powerchair. Working in conjunction with Josh’s Occupational Therapist, our team fitted Josh’s new Magic 360 with Crossover tyres for a more comfortable ride, as well as lift and tilt functionality, an MPS seating system with tailored padding and a Jay Fusion cushion, knee adductor pads, ideally-positioned storage bags and other tailored features and accessories that made all the difference to Josh’s overall comfort in his chair.

Having used his old powerchair only a few times, Josh is now out and about all the time on his own or with his dog. Relying on the lift and tilt functions to navigate the hilly footpaths on the way to local parks or shops, Josh feels confident that his powerful Magic 360 with Crossover tyres can handle the grassy, muddy or gravelly places he must travel to get where he’s going in safety and comfort.

Still saving for a van and waiting for funding approval for the modifications required to drive it, Josh looks forward to independently going where he needs to do his job, visit his family and friends, and experience all the other benefits of his Magic 360 Crossover’s , go-anywhere suspension, powerful traction and posture management capabilities.

A key lesson from Josh’s story is that no-one should just accept the limitations imposed by having to rely on a poorly-fitted powered wheelchair.

It’s an important perspective to see the overall value of getting it right. The perceived higher costs of superior powered mobility technology is rapidly offset by an overall value equation that reduces need for support worker assistance and increased mental well-being and capacity to live a full life.

If managing pain caused by your wheelchair is limiting your daily goals, then speak out and look for support from a therapist who is just as committed as Magic Mobility to enabling your independence in a world that’s not flat.

This is particularly important for people who have only just come out of intensive rehabilitation or have a condition that is rapidly changing with time. In those circumstances, you need lots of support to think ahead about your needs and capabilities to maintain or increase independence and develop new life goals.

At Magic Mobility, all our seating and cushioning options are available across our entire range of powerchairs. We manufacture our chairs to be configurable and modifiable, to grow with you as your needs or situation change.

Click here to speak to one of our powerchair seating specialists, or to find your local agent and trial our range of powerchairs and seating on your terrain.