Help my sister & nephew to live beyond existing

My big sister is a full time single mother on disability benefits.

Among her many conditions, she suffers with Cerebral Palsy (brain damage) from medical negligence at birth.

This has confined her to an electric wheelchair her entire life.

Her current electric wheelchair is government funded. Government funded Wheelchairs restrict the service user on a choice of chair that would specifically benefit their quality of life. This is due to the cost.

Full-time electric wheelchair users who still live a full life of responsibility need high functioning power chairs. Especially when there are children involved.

Her life not only depends on a specific electric wheelchair, my nephew solely relies on her as his mother. Like every child and mother relationship.

The private chair she needs is high cost, as it deals with:

• Wet weather

• Drives faster (which is much safer for crossing roads due to avoiding bad drivers and potential accidents etc)

•Service engineers repair waiting times are much faster (as parts that are needed to replace the chair are stored in their own warehouses. Therefore do not need to be ordered from another country).

•Less red tape is required or protocol or restrictions when buying a private wheelchair other than implementing the correct standard safety measures.

NB:

PIP does not get accepted with chairs that cross a certain financial threshold due to the unethical amount of interest that is paid when using PIP for higher purchase of 3 years. The cost literally cripples people (no pun intended). As the majority of disabled people are already below the poverty line.

Savings when on benefits are capped at £6,000 as soon as the savings exceed this amount, money gets deducted. When it exceeds £10,000, benefits are taken away completely. This makes it absolutely impossible to save for a chair of this type.

Scope charity, which is specifically for people with cerebral palsy is incredibly under funded and one of the least supported charities out there for people with this type of disability.

Many of you will be asking questions what is the difference between the chair that she has now and the chair that she wants and the answer is this in her words,

“I want to be able to go out, regardless of the weather conditions. This country is wet most of the year and the government chair is not safe to use outside in wet weather.

I want to be able to travel further without worrying about the battery or motor life dying.

I want to be able to consistently take my son to his Taekwondo Academy.

I want to take my son to the parks & experience days out with him.

My son is already homeschooled by myself. He is a very bright, intelligent and active boy that needs stimulation physically and socially. His home academia is not enough. He has been denied so much due to all the restrictions it entails with relying on a government wheelchair.

We are very isolated. We are literally trapped in our flat. I'm not asking for luxury. I'm asking for something that most people take for granted; to have a pair of legs that are functioning without being told or dictated to where I can go and when I can go. And to be able to fully access and utilise public facilities that are widely available to most people. Such as parks, libraries, martial art groups, shops, pharmacies, et cetera.

My whole life has consisted of abuse, neglect, persecution and dehumanisation. On top of all my physical and mental battles I have overcame and continue to fight through daily; having my son was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I just want to be his mother. I want to die knowing he will be left with some good memories of him and me. That he was not suffering unnecessary as a consequence of what was done to me.”

The wheelchair company is called Baldertech.

https://baldertech-uk.odoo.com/