The Day I Stood Up.  Hi everyone, my name is Dean Shand.  I’m a C4/5 Quadriplegic and I live at Ashley Village in Pinetown. When Mike and Lorraine from Mobility Solutions asked me to be their ‘model’ for a photo-shoot showing how easy it was to live life using a stand up electric wheelchair, I was really chuffed but a little bit nervous when they said we were going to go fishing and play golf!!  I’d been in another stand up electric wheelchair before and it wasn’t the greatest experience as I found it unstable and not at all comfortable to sit in.

Both of them assured me their chair was nothing like the one they’d seen me in previously and as I’d already seen their chair (but never sat in it) I knew it was different and then when I was told they were taking me to the Durban Country Club for lunch and that I’d be able to ‘stand’ in the Waterman Bar and enjoy a drink with them, I was sold!  Bring it on guys and let’s do this!

Saturday morning came along and we all met at Ashley Village and I transferred from my own power chair into the stand up and off we went in the kombi, kindly loaned by Ari Serlis, CEO of QASA.  I know Ari has one of these chairs and he really enjoys his, so I felt pretty confident that I would feel the same.

My first impression of the chair – it didn’t feel like a normal power chair.  I felt I was sitting better even when I first transferred; it felt comfortable (not like the other one I’d been in that gave me red pressure spots after a couple of hours).  I also liked its stability and it didn’t rock when I moved around.

1^st Stop Durban Harbour

Sun shining, a beautiful winter’s day in Durbs and here I am, fishing for the first time in many years!!.  Mike wanted to get right down by the yachts and the only way is down a steeeep ramp!! Oh my hat, I’m just the driver and off I go thinking what have I let myself in for here – I felt really nervous.  No worries though, Mike came up with a great idea, we’d go down backwards and sure enough, this baby manages easily, steady on the joystick, off we went;  a little oomph to get over the hump at the bottom and hey presto, I’m chillin’ right on the water’s edge looking out over all the yachts moored right beside us.  Bliss……

I could have stayed there all day, I loved standing up but have to admit that on the first attempt I came up really squint as my right hip was giving me a problem and my knee was very bent even with the support guard of the chair.   It didn’t feel right and I didn’t look right and Mike and Lorraine told me to lower myself and try again and the 2^nd time I stood up, I felt and looked right, I think because I came up slower and Mike and Lorraine eased me into the right position so my knee didn’t bend and I felt straight and much more comfortable.

I’d have been happy chilling there all day, the blue sky, heat and sun on my face, bit like a lizard me, I just can’t get enough sun.  But, with a lot of reluctance (it’s not often I can stand up for myself! lol) it was time to sit down and off to our next destination, the Durban Country Club Golf Course.

Oh Oh, I’d forgotten about that ramp and now I had to drive up so I approached it with a little apprehension but I knew Mike was behind me so I revved the controls and off this baby went, smooth as you like, all the way to the top without so much as a hiccup.  Wow, this little red Ferrari has a lot of power and I think a bit too much speed when the joystick is pushed to max!!

I was really enjoying this day, I felt a bit like a celebrity with Lorraine on camera and video and Mike as my manager, talking to all the people commenting about the chair and the auto ramp up into the QASA kombi.

2^nd Stop – The Golf Course

So, 1^st photo shoot accomplished successfully and off we went to DCC.  What a beautiful place,  colonial white washed building with its championship  golf course.  I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised at the manoeverability on the rough terrain and uneven ground.  Going up and down banks and T-boxes was a breeze.  Swinging that golf club felt good even though my arm was strapped to the club but it still made me feel as though I was an able bodied person again.  I do believe I could have gone on to do a game of golf I may not have finished but I’d have given it a good go.

What a great feeling, even the guys around me playing golf stopped to watch me as they couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing!  I actually wondered if this was a first for DCC, had another disabled person like me ever done something like this?

3^rd Stop – The Waterman Bar @ Durban Country Club

2^nd photo shoot another resounding success and off we went to the Waterman Bar in DCC.  Now I really did feel like a celebrity as all the guys in the bar were so amazed at watching me stand up and drive around in a standing position.  None of them had ever seen this before and I even drew a round of applause from them.  I have to say that just being able to stand in that bar and have a drink and look at people face to face, just felt incredibly awesome, I can’t actually put those feelings into words but I think everyone in my position will know exactly what I mean.

SO, 3^rd and final photo shoot a huge success and now it was time to go home, tired but happy.  When we got back to Ashley Village, I wandered off to find my good friend Michael Hall, to tell him about my day and I forgot I was still in the stand up chair, that’s how comfortable I felt in it, it was as though I’d owned it for a while.  Mike & Lorraine had to come looking for me to tell me they were going and I needed to transfer back into my own chair!   I was in the stand up for 7 hrs, I couldn’t believe it,  as the last time I was In a stand up I didn’t like it too much as it was too unstable and I had red marks on my buttocks after only a ½ hr.

To go from a sitting to stand up position is the most incredible feeling – especially if you don’t get to do it every day whereas with this chair, standing up every day would just be too cool.  From sitting all the time to standing, to get that weight off your buttocks is just such a relief all round, no more pressure points and also weight bearing is just too lovely for words.  Able bodied people get to do this all the time but they don’t realize what a privilege it is to actually stand up.

What a brilliant day, thank you to Mike and Lorraine from Mobility Solutions, they allowed me to experience things that very few disabled people get to enjoy.  It made me realise more than ever that there is no limit to what we can do if we have the right equipment and the right mindset.

Thank you Dean for being such an inspiring ‘model’ for our photo shoot and for your great story which I am sure will bring inspiration to anyone in a wheelchair.