Mobility scooters and related equipment
Due to a quite surprising range of neurological disorders, not to mention the devastating effects of advancing age, I have become sort of less mobile than I used to be. Where I used to be able to briskly walk for many hours, I now move slowly at a tortoises pace, for no more than one hour, leaning on either a cane or a crutch - depending on how I happen to feel that day. But I refuse to complain: there’s nothing I truly lack in this life, and diminished mobility doesn’t usually bother me.
However, for the longer journeys I nowadays use an electrical, which kind of makes me feel like a prince or even a sultan! Relaxedly sitting in a cusioned seat, nicely but never haughtly greeting the breathless passers-by, I zip along at either walking pace or double speed. When I feel relaxed I “walk”, when I really need to be somewhere in time I rev up the little machine.
There are lots of people much worse off than me, when it comes to physical capabilities. I can, albeit with difficulty, still walk - many others can’t. Especially for those the mobility scooter is a great help, enabling them to be mobile again. There are 3-wheel mobility scooters and 4-wheel mobility scooters, and if you’re seriously considering buying such a machine, I certainly recommend the 3-wheeled version. They are somewhat more manoeuvrable on account of their smaller turning radius, which is a great advantage in crowded or narrow areas. I also would recommend to go for batteries with a lot of capacity: it’s not only unpleasant but also quite embarassing to find yourself without of juice when far away from home!
Apart from mobility scooters, there are many more contraptions and inventions that make the life of the handicapped much easier. Stairlifts, bed lifts, electrically powered wheelchairs, rollators… they all help to make life much more normal for the handicapped.