I have not written for quite a while, the main reasons if I am honest are that I have been really busy with my court compensation case and secondly, which is probably more the case, because I have been worried about what I may end up putting on the page. For a few months now I have been up and down like a gigolo’s ass. I am quite proud of how I have coped since joining the cripple club but lately it has become a struggle resulting in some really unpleasant outburst of vocal expression shall we say mixed with some vocalised thinking that once I have calmed down, have actually made me think. One such episode happened today. My Wife had left me in my wheelchair and as settled as and sorted as I could be in order for her to attend a gym session which is her time to herself. I had needed to go to the bathroom which I did and once I had finished what I was doing I lifted myself in my chair just to adjust myself. To do this I have to lift myself by putting my hands on my wheels and pushing down thus lifting myself up. So as I have done many times over the last four years, I did exactly that but this time it all went really wrong.

As I pushed down on my wheels the right wheel gave way and separated from the chair. This obviously meant that there was nothing holding the chair and I up and so it tipped over to the right and backwards and this left me on the floor. Sounds simple right? Well, wrong! I am in my chair but tipped backwards leaving me with my bent neck leaning against the radiator. To my right was the toilet which left the detached wheel wedged between the toilet and me in the chair which is of course leaning towards the wheel meaning that I cannot get the wheel out. In front of me is the bath which my chair is also wedged against enough for me to be unable to try to shuffle forwards. As the left wheel is still attached I am unable to roll or try to escape the chair to my left. So, I am in the house on my own. The front door is locked meaning that even if I can call someone, they cannot get in. I cannot move in any way shape or form and just to add to the shits and giggles my body is constantly in spasm. All I can do is go with it and hope that the spasms square themselves away real quick.

It was twenty minutes before I was able to move any sense without the spasms locking me back up again, and so with a hell of a lot of swearing and shouting I managed to lift my left leg out and to the left of the left wheel. Next I lifted my right leg, well, I attempted to but this caused a spasm which not only put my right leg back to whence it started but threw my left leg back to it’s original place too. It was a further five or six attempts before I managed to get my legs out and to “roll” myself free of the chair. After righting myself I then had to move the chair and look at the damage or rather exactly what had happened. There are two pins that hold the axle sleeves in place in the axle tube. The axle sleeves are what the wheels lock in to. The pins were missing having obviously having fallen out over a period of time so when I pushed on the wheels, there was nothing to combat the force I was applying and as such the axle sleeve whilst still holding on to the wheel, came away. This was clearly a real pain in the ass which was going to cause me a real problem but then I saw what else had happened, and this was where round five, no six, or was it seven? Anyway, it was where the next outburst came from and believe me, this time I was REALLY PISSED OFF.

Attached to my axle tube are brackets for my anti tip bars, these as the name would suggest, prevent me from going over backwards when the chair is tipped back. These I had when I first purchased the chair so that I would not tip over backwards when learning to find the balance point of the chair. They are not something that I leave in because firstly I am more than comfortable with being able to balance on the back wheels but secondly, they are in the way when dropping down curbs. I do however use them if my spasms are really bad. Anyway, about the brackets. They had obviously been in contact with the floor when I collapsed and whilst spasms were kicking off, and I was trying to get out of  the chair, they had cut and torn the lino on the floor. So now I not only had to face the expense of getting my chair sorted but I also have to fork out for new lino in the bathroom. NOT HAPPY! So after my Wife returned from the gym and helped me get back in to the chair I then had to go to Exeter to go and get the chair looked at, a temporary repair to hold the axle sleeves in whilst I await a new axle tube, sleeves and a few other things for the chair to put it right. God knows how much that is gonna cost but without the chair I can’t get around so it is not something I have a choice in. Still, although I ended up with a bang on the head, a slightly strained neck and proper painful shoulder (which brings a shit load of problems on it’s own), there is always someone worse off.

So that was today. Thought I would share so I could show an unexpected problem that whilst may seem simple, a wheel falling off of my wheelchair, but how where it happens mixed with the effect it has on my body can cause it to be far from simple and possibly even dangerous. On a different note though, October the 10th I shall be attempting to reach the summit of Ben Nevis and then on the 11th, Scarfel Pike. I was a bit disappointed when I did not quite make it to the top of Snowdon but really proud of how far up I did manage to get. So I am really looking forward to the challenge of the next two. Really chuffed as well that my Daughter also wants to take the challenge. So please, donate to my page and help me support SSAFA, Care for Casualties and ABF The Soldiers Charity so that they can continue to help the military personnel and families of those who have, like me, served in our Armed Forces. Thanks in advance.

My sponsor page.

Goodnight all.

We arrived at the sports centre after more than a three hour drive but despite the crappy traffic we did have around twenty minutes before the appointment. I was directed along a short corridor to a room on my right which is where Cyclone have a “treatment room” for want of a better term and after entering the room I met with Matt, the physiotherapist who would be introducing me to and helping me use the ReWalk exoskeleton. The first thing was for Matt to talk to me about my injuries followed by getting me to sit on the edge of the treatment plynth so as he could measure my legs and hips. This was necessary to get the exoskeleton adjusted to fit me. From here he conducted some stretching of my legs, this took quite some time as my spasms were quite lively which makes my legs solid. With the patience and know how though, Matt got my legs to a point that they were as relaxed as they were going to be and after helping me back in to my wheelchair, he took me to the exoskeleton to show me how it worked.

The ReWalk was in the sitting position on a chair which was quite amusing to be honest, and rather than me transfer on to the seat to have the ReWalk fitted to me, Matt gave me a demonstration of how the system worked and what I would have to do for it to walk for me. He showed me the “Watch” that controls the ReWalk and what each of the buttons did. Then he told me that he would make the unit stand, sit and after standing again, would make it walk which is also when he would show what I would have to do to make the unit work. Seeing a pair of robotic legs standing and sitting was a little weird but also very clever and when Matt took hold of the back of the “legs” he told me what I would do and the effect it would have and also the movement it would allow. He then proceeded to “walk” the “legs” the length of the room before sitting them back down on to the chair ready for me to transfer on the the chair and be fitted to the unit. The transfer was not something that I could manage on my own but with some assistance from Matt I plonked my arse on to the chair and Matt set about strapping me in. With all of the “pre flight checks” complete he gave me some instruction on what action I would have to take to assist the ReWalk in standing me up, so with my hands on the parallel bars in front of me, we had a go at my first standing in an exoskeleton.

I have a standing frame which I use when I can so this was not the first time I had stood up since my collision four years ago but when I am in the standing frame there is a tray in front of me and a strap around my arse. To that end I know that there is no way that I could fall forward or backward, but with the ReWalk there was no strap to stop me from falling backwards and no tray in front of me. The parallel bars were there of course so I was comfortable with the standing but these “legs” stood me so much straighter than the standing frame. I could actually feel my hamstrings stretching. There were so many different things that I was feeling and thinking and noticing, which you may well be able to see on my face in the video. Having done the standing it was time for me to sit back down.

The next thing for me to do was to get up using the crutches that you have to use with the ReWalk exoskeleton and so the crutches were set at the height that Matt thought would suit me and after he had explained what I would have to do and what to expect when I was upright, we gave it a go.

I could actually feel the shift in my balance when I was standing but as my core muscles don’t work I had to move the crutches around which as you will have seen in the video (and heard with the tapping), I was almost dancing the crutches until finally I got to a point that I felt was balanced. It was strange because the point that I was upright was when I felt like I was tipping forward, this would be something that I would have to really keep in my mind. If I thought I was tipping forward then I would obviously try to counteract the forward tipping but because I would actually be upright, I would end up tipping backward. As I was just learning about the system obviously Matt would not let me fall but I didn’t need to be getting in to an automatic bad habit. The next stage, after a sit down and stand up again, was to try to step. How hard could this be. I knew how to walk before my collision four years ago so it should be like riding a bike right? Well, not quite so.

This was not going to be easy. As soon as I took a step and the second in my head I was saying “Left, Right, Left, Right”, and because I was associating this with marching in the Army my arms would try to go faster than my legs. This of course didn’t work and the ReWalk stopped. This was really frustrating but I was determined to accomplish at least two steps before my appointment came to an end. I had used a “walking frame” in Stoke Mandeville spinal unit last year which was as close as I could get to walking but it was a very different kind of equipment, for those who haven’t seen this or can’t remember….

So I had struggled to walk more than the one step on so many occasions whilst learning to use the ReWalk, and in my head I was asking myself over and over why I couldn’t manage to do it. It did cause a little frustration because how hard can it be to walk? That is something that I kept saying to myself but I did not get angry with it and instead found it almost amusing. Anyway, with Matt’s help, patience and determination we did accomplish a few steps.

I cannot begin to explain the feelings and thoughts that were going on in my head and body, I know that Matt was telling me when to move and was offering me support but for the first time in over four years I WAS WALKING!

After getting me out of the exoskeleton Matt suggested that I use a piece of exercise equipment that uses electrical stimulation and motors to make me effectively pedal the bike. Matt stuck the pads that would be plugged in to the machine on my legs and arse cheeks and then explained how the equipment would work, what my body would be doing when stimulated by the electrical impulses and the benefits to me personally.

After a period of time the motors stop and the electrical impulses to the legs take over as the sole method of keeping the pedals turning.  When the motors stopped my legs took over but after only a few rotations my legs tired and seemingly were struggling to run in sync which meant that the crank would not turn. I did find though that if I twisted so that my hip was effectively pushing my legs forward, I did indeed pedal the “bike”.

The day with Matt from Cyclone at the sports centre where I used the ReWalk and the FES bike was brilliant. I will be using the ReWalk again in the not too distant future, and while I am there I would love to use the FES equipment again. The ReWalk and the FES exercise equipment are two things that are definitely now on my wish list.

Please don’t forget to visit my fundraising page and help me raise money for some of the military charities that have helped me to buy my Overlander that allows me to do things I could never do in my standard wheelchairs. Thanks in advance.   www.virginmoneygiving.com/Giving-Back

Goodnight all.