I’m a member of a facebook group for paraplegics.
I see One guy talking quite a bit about the too big chair issue and he’s right.
He says that it’s common for paras (especially women!) to be fitted into the wrong size chair.
My first chair was 18×18. I was supposedly measured for it and when he delivered I complained about how much bigger it was than the one the hospital gave me. He said it was because everyone in a wheelchair gets fat.
I was taken aback but didn’t know what to say.
Fast forward two years and I’m ordering a scooter to make getting around campus easier.
The sales guy talks to me about what I need & why. He’s very polite.
Just before he leaves he says that he doesn’t mean to pry but wanted to know why I was in such a large chair.
I told him the story and he’s appalled.
He says he has one he *thinks* will be perfect. They’d had it at the office about two years but no one was small enough to fit in it. They’d accidentally ordered it backwards for a client.
I said sure. He said if it fit it was mine for $800, roho included.
A week or two later he shows up, I transfer in and it was heaven.
It was a 14×16. It’s the same size I use today.
I was in an 18×18 for two years and it was terrible.
Proper sizing is crucial.
