Enough was enough...
Enough was enough...Damian Chick
Damian Chick is 27 and lives in Barry, South Wales. Born with cerebral palsy, he has been a wheelchair user all of his life.
Damian is an independent young man, and lives on his own. He has two Personal Assistants (PAs) who help him with the everyday living tasks – having cerebral palsy means he is in a power chair day to day, and is unable to do the every day tasks that others take for granted.
When Damian was a young boy, his family purchased a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV), but since moving out from his parents and living on his own, he has not had a car; instead he has been relying on public transport for over 7 years. He said, “Getting out and about was difficult when I was relying on public transport. It meant that all my journeys were planned, and made more difficult – either by having to worry about whether the bus driver would allow me on because of my wheelchair type, or whether I’d have to wait an hour and a half for a taxi to turn up – not to mention the small fortune I was paying taxi drivers every trip!”
Being independent, Damian never let his disability get in the way of what he wanted to do, or get him down, but one particular event was the last straw for him. One day as he was trying to board a bus, the bus driver stopped him and told him that his make of wheelchair was not allowed on to the bus – even though Damian knew that his particular make and model of wheelchair was suitable for any public transport throughout Europe. That made no difference to the bus driver, who wasn’t going to let Damian on the bus. Damian said “Usually I don’t let things get to me, but this really upset me, to the point where I was crying in public. The fact that a bus driver had reduced me to tears was really the point where I thought enough is enough. I went straight home, and got out my laptop and started the hunt for a wheelchair accessible vehicle.”
Damian had heard of Gowrings Mobility through some of his friends, and also had heard of experiences that they’d had with other companies. He researched online that afternoon, and decided that Gowrings Mobility was the company for him.
Damian said everything from his first enquiry was so smooth, “Dealing with Gowrings Mobility was quick and easy. I popped in an enquiry on the Saturday, and by the Monday was on the phone getting great advice and arranging a home demonstration. My mobility advisor was great, I told him all the things I wanted to do with my car and he just took me through the best options for me, based on all the information I had given him.”
After his conversation, Damian decided to have a home demonstration to assess suitability. Damian said, “The demonstration was great. One of my PAs test drove, and I was shown all of the safety features, seatbelts and straps to make sure I fully understood them.” Damian was so impressed with the vehicle, he ordered one as soon as he could!
Damian was particularly impressed with the speedy service he received along the way. He said, “My vehicle was with me within 4 weeks. I found everyone really helpful, and it made the whole process so much less stressful than I expected it to be.”
On delivery of his vehicle, Damian realised how much it was going to change his life. He comments, “Life has improved so much for me since I got my car. Down to the every day things that others take for granted. Really it’s taken away any barriers I had before in terms of accessibility; now I can go out when I want to, go where I want; spontaneously and easily.”
Being a 27 year old man, his WAV gives him the freedom to do all the things any 27 year old man does. Like going clubbing! He finished, “it’s great to be able to meet up with my friends when I want to. It’s also meant that I can now take my family out – I’m really close to them, and being able to take them out with me in my car is great, it means we can all go out together.”
Damian is an independent young man, and lives on his own. He has two Personal Assistants (PAs) who help him with the everyday living tasks – having cerebral palsy means he is in a power chair day to day, and is unable to do the every day tasks that others take for granted.
When Damian was a young boy, his family purchased a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV), but since moving out from his parents and living on his own, he has not had a car; instead he has been relying on public transport for over 7 years. He said, “Getting out and about was difficult when I was relying on public transport. It meant that all my journeys were planned, and made more difficult – either by having to worry about whether the bus driver would allow me on because of my wheelchair type, or whether I’d have to wait an hour and a half for a taxi to turn up – not to mention the small fortune I was paying taxi drivers every trip!”
Being independent, Damian never let his disability get in the way of what he wanted to do, or get him down, but one particular event was the last straw for him. One day as he was trying to board a bus, the bus driver stopped him and told him that his make of wheelchair was not allowed on to the bus – even though Damian knew that his particular make and model of wheelchair was suitable for any public transport throughout Europe. That made no difference to the bus driver, who wasn’t going to let Damian on the bus. Damian said “Usually I don’t let things get to me, but this really upset me, to the point where I was crying in public. The fact that a bus driver had reduced me to tears was really the point where I thought enough is enough. I went straight home, and got out my laptop and started the hunt for a wheelchair accessible vehicle.”
Damian had heard of Gowrings Mobility through some of his friends, and also had heard of experiences that they’d had with other companies. He researched online that afternoon, and decided that Gowrings Mobility was the company for him.
Damian said everything from his first enquiry was so smooth, “Dealing with Gowrings Mobility was quick and easy. I popped in an enquiry on the Saturday, and by the Monday was on the phone getting great advice and arranging a home demonstration. My mobility advisor was great, I told him all the things I wanted to do with my car and he just took me through the best options for me, based on all the information I had given him.”
After his conversation, Damian decided to have a home demonstration to assess suitability. Damian said, “The demonstration was great. One of my PAs test drove, and I was shown all of the safety features, seatbelts and straps to make sure I fully understood them.” Damian was so impressed with the vehicle, he ordered one as soon as he could!
Damian was particularly impressed with the speedy service he received along the way. He said, “My vehicle was with me within 4 weeks. I found everyone really helpful, and it made the whole process so much less stressful than I expected it to be.”
On delivery of his vehicle, Damian realised how much it was going to change his life. He comments, “Life has improved so much for me since I got my car. Down to the every day things that others take for granted. Really it’s taken away any barriers I had before in terms of accessibility; now I can go out when I want to, go where I want; spontaneously and easily.”
Being a 27 year old man, his WAV gives him the freedom to do all the things any 27 year old man does. Like going clubbing! He finished, “it’s great to be able to meet up with my friends when I want to. It’s also meant that I can now take my family out – I’m really close to them, and being able to take them out with me in my car is great, it means we can all go out together.”
