Wheelchair for Charlotte

I left my flat in Bristol on 5 March 2020 to work from London for a few days and, since the pandemic reached the UK in that time, I never lived there again. I had contracted Covid, and over the next year my health deteriorated until I had to go on long-term sick leave from June 2021. I described that first year in this short piece: https://medium.com/@cea.murphy/the-past-is-a-foreign-country-b79e2a816523

Even before Covid, it wasn’t always easy juggling work, life and health, as I’m sure it wasn’t for so many of us. I already had an long-term underlying condition, endometriosis, that I had battled for some time. The combination of this with the Long Covid has severely messed with my autonomic nervous system to the point that I now suffer from POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). This makes it very difficult to be on my feet, or at times, even to sit upright. Not being able to move freely has greatly diminished my quality of life.

Before Covid, my weeks were jam-packed with exciting work projects, yoga classes with friends, going to gigs, cooking, travelling and playing the cello. I have not been able to do any of that for three years. Even at home, my horizons have been limited. One of the effects of this combination of conditions has been severe fatigue and significant cognitive impairment. This has made it difficult at times to even hold a conversation or simply to read.

One really positive decision I have made is to get a wheelchair. Having a chair should enable me to resume some activities that I used to totally take for granted and gain back some independence: going to the supermarket, visiting friends, walking in the countryside, going to family events, taking a plane, going to a concert, or visiting an art gallery or museum. All the stuff that makes life so great!

I’ve worked with a great independent outfit who specialise in active wheelchairs and we’ve put together a specification that will really work for me. This wheelchair is nice and lightweight, and will easily fit into the back of a car. It is optimised so that every bit of energy I put into pushing it will be maximised. In time, there is a motorised accessory I can add that will enable me to whizz around town and explore off-road hikes and hilly terrain. But, for now, the wheelchair alone is going to open the world back up to me.

I have already got together just under half the total cost. If you are able to help, and it doesn’t cause you any hardship, I would greatly appreciate contributions to help me cover the remaining cost of the wheelchair. Thank you for reading!