Internal and external wheelchair lifts
My younger brother, Stephen, was born with cerebral palsy. For those of you who don’t know, cerebral palsy is a disorder that limits the movement of those who have it. People suffering from CP face a tough time speaking and communicating. I don’t understand a lot about it, but I know it means that Stephen is going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, even though he’s not paralyzed. He can move and even crawl around quite well. but for the people suffering from cerebral palsy walking is really tough and at times can be painful. Last year Stephen acquired a motorized wheelchair. He quickly learned to operate it. But my mom had a problem with it. Whereever she took it, she found it tough to get in and out of her minivan. Motorized wheelchairs are heavy and unwieldy, she said. Not that I know what unwieldy means. That’s when dad looked intowheelchairs lifts.
Wheelchair lifts do exactly what you might expect—they help you lift a heavy or unwieldy wheelchair into the back of your car, truck, or van. Wheelchair liftscome in two types: external lifts and internal lifts. The external lifts fit perfectly on to the hitch of your car in the back, Where as internal ones are kept safely in the trunk and can let your chair climb very quickly. Since Stephen’s wheelchair is a little heavier than most, my parents looked at models of external wheelchair lifts.
The model they ended up choosing can lift up to 350 pounds and is really easy to use. Stephen just drives his chair onto the ramp and it’s ready to be loaded. After the durable, metal ramp is locked into place, it does all the work by itself. Even a power source is not needed for it! When these wheelchair lifts are finished doing their job, they can even be folded up for easy storage.
Mom loves the freedom wheelchair lifts have given our family. Now she can take Stephen’s wheelchair just about anywhere without having to worry about getting it in and out of her minivan.
