Side Notes by Esko: Gain Strength, Lift Your Scooter!

Gain strength, lift your scooter! I have been doing this for quite some time, and have gained muscle mass, strength and stability. If your scooter is light enough, you too can choose to put your own scooter into your vehicle instead of using a lifting device.

We drive a large van, where the rearmost seat row has been permanently folded down to make room for a scooter lift. One has been installed for Evie’s scooter, which is too heavy to lift manually by one person, at least not without some disassembling.

We have also taken out the middle passenger seats to create space for my scooter, which can be folded quite flat, with no need to remove any parts. There is even a lifting handle on the side of my scooter, which allows me to lift the whole thing into a fairly flat or narrow space.

So how did I get to this point?

When I started using my present scooter, we considered getting a lifting device for the side door of the van. There were some that seemed workable, but none were perfect, and the cost was still high compared to the perhaps uncertain benefits that I could expect. Instead, I decided that I was strong enough to do my own scooter lifting.

Explaining the whole procedure of making Evie’s and my scooters ready for transport and lifting them into our van may make it sound like a lengthy process. Actually, it feels like a short, intense activity, and mostly goes without a hitch. It has become routine.

My part of this routine includes putting any bags I carry onto the front passenger seat, then helping Evie load her scooter, especially when the weather is hot. That way Evie can get inside the car, start the engine and AC, while she waits for me to operate the lift and then get my scooter into the van.

Then I load my scooter:

1. Open the side door.
2. Position the scooter so that the tiller is pointed towards the opening.
3. Turn off the scooter and stand up.
4. Fold down the scooter tiller against the seat as far as it goes without folding the seat, then fold the seat backrest against the tiller to stop it from moving.
5. Use the handle at the front of the scooter to lift the front wheels to the van floor.
6. Move backwards carefully to the rear of the scooter. Use the handle under the rear of the scooter seat to lift and push the scooter into the passenger area of the van. Adjust the position of the scooter to make sure the side door closes without a problem.
7. Put other items into the passenger area if necessary, close the side door, get into the front passenger seat next to the patiently waiting Evie, and strap in!

Number six is the really heavy one, and a little risky, for obvious reasons. Staying balanced while lifting and pushing the scooter requires concentration and planning of movements.

That also explains why we always check how many van-accessible spaces a parking lot has. If van-accessible spaces are not available, number six may need a slight variation. For example, Evie may park in a space with an empty space on the starboard (passenger) side, and we hope it is still empty when we come back.

Lifting a scooter means lifting it once into the van before we leave home, twice at each stop, and once out again when we get home. Usually our physical endurance limits the number of stops to one per outing. We go to a place, spend time there, and come back home. I get four scooter lift exercises. Yayy!

What I write describes my specific experience. Not all scooter users have the same disabilities as I do, or share my hesitation about carrying out number six under some circumstances. I also have a tendency to be overconfident and test my ability just to discover my limits. Then I ignore those limits and subsequently, hopefully, learn that my balance is better than I thought.

There have, however, been falls, which is why I tried to use some caution when describing all this. My falls have not, thank goodness, been very bad. I don’t really know why.

I fell down once when getting out of the car, without any scooters being involved. I was talking to Evie and trying to close the passenger door at the same time. Evie reported that the earth had swallowed me. Nope. The earth was innocent. It was a gust of wind that unexpectedly closed the van door for me and I lost balance.

There have been other occasions when I have fallen down without any particular suspicion of earth or wind being involved, just good old disregard of gravity on my part. No bones have been broken, so far, possibly because I have strong bones. Sometimes, if a fall does happen, it might be a good idea to get up quietly, dust oneself off and pretend that nothing happened. No need to be complaining of pain.

Lessons Learned:

• Don’t walk and talk at the same time, particularly not in high winds.
• Know thy bone density! (I don’t.)
• Know how to fall without cracking your skull. Try to roll into a ball.
• Note to myself: Don’t be such a drama queen! This is real life, not football or soccer!