Hi! I'm sitting with Siobhan forcing her to agree to make this. In an ideal world she needs a new chair that is correctly fitted (£5000) and a new power assist (cheapest £2,500), I have managed to convince her to let people help for a power assist as she is unable to do most things without one. Mobility equipment is disgustingly expensive, it shouldn't be this way.

"Lil cliff", the good ol' smart drive got recalled from use worldwide last month when the company finalyyyy agreed it was unsafe. This was after it had already thrown her into a train bridge and pushed her into oncoming traffic!! Everyone knows what a lifeline Lil Cliff was (when he wasn't trying to murder her) and the loss of it massively impacts Siobhan's ability to get out and do pretty much anything.... from going to work, to going to the supermarket... things are much harder without a power assist.

Siobhan is fiercely independent to a fault, which means this loss is having a big impact but also means she is reluctant to ask for help. She has tried contacting lawyers to get compensation for the SmartDrive but despite recalls and known safety issues, the company isn’t compensating users, leaving disabled people without essential mobility aids and out of pocket by £5,000!!!

Anyone who knows Siobhan knows she would help out if someone else needed it. She so rarely accepts help in any form. I have had to use some *caring* emotional manipulation for her to agree to this. Please share and help where you can. Everyone deserves the ability to mobilise independently.

A quote from an emotional text I got from Siobhan when the SmartDrive was recalled "I hate that I am so much more disabled by the unreliability of this device than I am from my disability itself"