This story first appeared in the Information Point newsletter Our World in 2013, when Clair Tierney wrote about her experience of the Hippocampe All Terrain Wheelchair.
Luke is eight years old and has X linked myotubular myopathy. He lives with his mum Clair, dad Paul and sister Anna aged 11 in Coventry. Below Clair writes about her experience of the Hippocampe All Terrain Wheelchair.
As the years have gone by, taking our son Luke on holiday has become more and more difficult. We found that Butlins was the easiest holiday to manage as the staff were so accommodating and the apartments very large and spacious for our budget. Everything is flat and easily accessible. However, one of the hardest things was getting Luke down on to the beach. When he was much smaller and weighed less he was fine to carry down to the sea to see and touch the water and his wheelchair was small enough to pull on the beach, but as he grew and the wheelchair grew it was no longer possible. He would spend the time just sitting by the tent and building castles. Obviously we made sure he still had lots of fun but I couldn’t help feeling guilty as he watched his sister and dad go and have fun running along beach, playing by the sea, jumping over the waves.
We first saw the Hippocampe when visiting friends, they had entered a competition and won one. We thought it was brilliant. Luke had a go in it and he looked very comfortable. Our friends explained that it could be towed, pushed or self propelled and it was very easy to turn. It can go onto the beach, in water, on rocky ground and is even great for the snow. It was designed for disabled people by disabled people and is for any age to enjoy outdoor activities to their full ability. It was practical and lightweight and came with separate beach wheels which were very easy to change. We were impressed so we went home to research it but it cost £3,500, a lot more than we could afford.
So with supporting letters from our Children’s Community Nurse and occupational therapist we wrote to a few charities to see if they could help to fund one. They couldn’t. One said no because it is a wheelchair and Luke already has an electric wheelchair. Another said no because it was a leisure item not a necessity. We were frustrated by this because, yes he already has a wheelchair but he certainly could not use it on the sand, rocky ground, or in the snow and as for it being a leisure item, all children need leisure even the disabled ones but other children’s leisure is free, they just put one foot in front of the other and run like the wind. Unfortunately for our disabled kids, they cant do that, so we, the parents have to pay thousands of pounds for the same leisure. It seems cruelly unjust.
So, we then decided to research the possibility of hiring a Hippocampe for our holiday and came across Equipment Services in Somerset. They very kindly agreed to deliver it to Butlins and pick it up for the brilliant price of just £21 for the week. We were delighted. We can honestly say it was life changing for Luke, we all ran and played together on the beach and he said it felt brilliant racing around on the sand going in the sea, something he had never done before. If we had £3,500 we wouldn’t hesitate in buying one of these fantastic wheelchairs, especially as winter is now approaching and we have exactly the same problem in the snow as we do on the beach. We would highly recommend this equipment. It made our holiday and will look into hiring it again next year.
Our World 