A perfect match for the Moores
The Moore Family
Nick & Belinda Moore live near Southampton with their two sons Jake, 6 and Joe, 5. Jake has 1P36 deletion syndrome; a chromosome disorder where the end of chromosome one has been lost. Disabled since birth, Jake is unable to walk, talk or support his own weight. The Moore family love being active, and they try to get out and about as much as possible in their local area, especially to the beach and nearby forest.
Jake’s condition has meant that the every-day journeys and family days out that many take for granted are much more difficult. Needing a simple, easy solution, Nick and Belinda began researching wheelchair accesible vehicles. After ringing around many conversion companies, Nick spoke to a mobility advisor at Gowrings Mobility. Nick commented “the service I received from Gowrings Mobility was everything it should have been and more – unlike many of the other companies that gave us the ‘hard sell’ approach. Many of the companies didn’t ask about our needs as a family, or about Jake and his condition and tried to sell us a ‘one size fits all’ vehicle, Gowrings Mobility couldn’t have been more different.”
With their budget constraints, the Moores were looking to purchase a vehicle with no advance payment on the Motability scheme and at the time, had the choice of a Renault Kangoo or a Fiat Doblo. Impressed with the friendly service at Gowrings Mobility, Nick arranged for a free home demonstration of the Fiat Doblo. Nick was familiar with the Doblo as he had used one before as a company car, and had always like the Fiat brand. Nick commented, “the demonstration driver and the mobility advisor could not have been more friendly and helpful in assessing our needs and carrying out the demonstration”
The Doblo turned out to be everything they needed and now the family have their wheelchair accessible Fiat Doblo, their journeys could not be easier. A perfect match for the Moores; with the largest internal space for a wheelchair in a vehicle of its class and a light-weight shallow ramp, lowered floor and 4 point belt system.
Nick said “The Doblo allows us to operate as a normal family. We just drop the ramp, put the belts on his wheelchair, push Jake in, secure him, and off we go. It takes about the same amount of time to get Joe into his booster seat and buckled in as it does to get Jake in in his wheelchair” Having 2 rear seats in the car means that they can all go out as a family, including the dog and they still have room for Joe’s bike!
After going through a year’s worth of adaptations to their house to make it more accessible for Jake, Nick stated “It has been far easier getting the car than any other piece of specialist equipment that we have needed for Jake, and it has been the most suitable for his needs. Getting other specialist equipment has always been, without fail, a real challenge.”
“We could have easily slipped into the habit of not leaving the house due to Jake’s difficulties, but we haven’t done that and the Doblo makes journeys so much easier than before”
They are so happy with their Doblo, a family friend who has a little boy with the same condition as Jake, has already been round to have a good look, and is thinking of getting one for themself!