Rosie trials the XT2 on holidays

Rosie is a marketer and professional model who we first met when we engaged her to star in our XT2 launch video. With her mobility limited by a rare medical condition, Rosie is still able to use a manual wheelchair and has not yet sought NDIS funding for a powered wheelchair. Which is why she was delighted to try out an XT2 over the summer holidays and share her experience with us and our readers.

Able to independently transfer in and out the XT2 from her manual chair, the most positive impact it made to Rosie’s holiday enjoyment came from greatly increased independence.

Rosie was delighted to trial the XT2 over the summer holidays and shared her experience with us.

Why did we offer Rosie an XT2 to try rather than an XT4?

For manual wheelchair users like Rosie, the XT2 can be an ideal solution to gain light to medium off-road access to outdoor environments and distant destinations, both for recreational and practical purposes. Its unique combination of long wheel base, four large wheels, powerful rear wheel drive motors, massive batteries, servo-powered steering and exceptionally smooth, stable suspension lets people get outside and explore their world, without worry.

The XT2 has been specifically designed for cruising in comfort. It performs well at top speeds across all sorts of everyday outdoor terrains, making it ideal for people living in steep, remote or unmade outer urban or rural environments, like Rosie’s. Being of the same design DNA as the XT4, it will still get you through some tough off-road challenges (such as curbs, loose gravel, dirt trails). For those people who want independence, what you lose in full 4WD capability, you gain in efficiency to go further and for longer on most types of outdoor terrains.

Here’s what Rosie told us:

“It was the first time in 10 years I was able to go for a walk by myself, because where I live is a very hilly area at the bottom of the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria. Before I was a wheelchair user, that was my tranquil space; I would go for walks or runs – and that is the number one thing that the XT2 allowed me to do when I wanted to. I could just go by myself. … I got to go exploring as well. I discovered a lot of new roads and paths that are right nearby my home. And they’re beautiful! And I had no idea they were there.”

How did independent access to her beautiful local surrounds make Rosie feel?

“Just happy … It’s been 10 years of knowing what I was missing, so I was longing for it.

The added independence Rosie experienced was a very positive experience for her.

It just felt like the ultimate independence to be able to go from where you live without having to first travel to get to somewhere flat. You can just leave where you live and go where you want to go at your own pace…
There’s something very intrinsically tied with being a grown up and having that independence. And when that is taken from you, that is a huge blow to your ties with being in the adult world with everyone else on that equal playing field. So, having that freedom to do something as simple as go for a walk in your own local area, yeah, it’s really empowering.”

And it can also be great fun. “On one of my first drives I came across this little park and it had a lot of grass and I was like a little kid. I put the XT2 on a high speed and I just zoomed around in the grass – because you can’t do that in a manual wheelchair, it gets stuck and it’s so much effort and it’s so hard. And I was like a little kid just doing donuts in the grass. Because I knew the chair could handle it.”

Another highlight of Rosie’s holidays was going for walks with her husband, Jack, ambling alongside him with her seat fully elevated.

“Just to be able to walk alongside my husband at his pace and hold hands was really special.

Rosie enjoyed walking with husband, Jack, at his pace and holding hands.

It’s something that I haven’t experienced before and, I don’t know how to explain that, it was just special to be able to make eye contact at his level.” Part of that came from feeling totally secure at full elevation, highly stable thanks to heavy batteries, a low centre of gravity and advanced, independent suspension. “The suspension was amazing. Just knowing that I can do it. It’s not going to tip over. It’s not going to shake me too much if it goes over a stick. That I know I can just lift it up and off I go!”

While Rosie started out slow and careful, her confidence grew with experience to the point where she stopped focusing on driving and started focusing on getting where she wanted to go and enjoying her surrounds.

“At the beginning I was super cautious, and it would be a perfectly normal, good curb and I would be really nervous. And then, by the end, I’d see one that was all wonky and really steep and I was like, ‘No, I can handle that!’ … At the beginning I went by very reserved routes around my local area and then expanded it bit by bit because I knew that if I turned a corner and it had jagged ground or it was quite a steep hill that the chair could handle it.” In the end, Rosie didn’t hesitate to explore anywhere she wanted, she told us:

“I went to the hardest hills I could think of in my area and the XT2 just handled it. No worries.”

And that….is truly Magic!

Contact your local Sunrise Medical dealer today to discover more about the capabilities of the XT2 across your local terrains.