Due to a rather picturesque range of neurological ailments, not to mention the increasing 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 hours and hours, I now move slowly at a tortoises pace, for a maximum of one hour, leaning on either a cane or a crutch – depending on how I happen to function that day. But I won’t complain: there’s nothing I truly lack in my life, and diminished mobility doesn’t unduly bother me.
However, for the longer distances I nowadays use an electrical, which kind of makes me feel like a prince or even a king! Relaxedly sitting in a cusioned seat, pleasantly but never haughtly greeting the admiring passers-by, I buzz 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, though with difficulty, still walk – but a lot of others can’t. Especially for those the electric scooter is a great support, enabling them to be free again. There are 3-wheel mobility scooters and 4-wheel mobility scooters, and if you happen to be considering buying such a contraption, I certainly recommend the 3-wheeled variety. They tend to be considerably more manoeuvrable due to their smaller turning radius, which is a great advantage in crowded or narrow places. I also would advice you to go for batteries with a lot of capacity: it’s not only unpleasant but also extremely embarassing to find yourself out of power when far away from home!
Apart from mobility scooters, there are many more contraptions and gadgets that make the life of the handicapped much more pleasant. Stairlifts, bed lifts, electric wheelchairs, rollators… they all serve to make life much more pleasant for the disabled.
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