‘I was flying high from feeling free again – like I used to on my motorbike.’
That’s how Omeo wheelchair owner Sonia says she felt when she first tested our amazing self-balancing tech.
‘It was total freedom. Now I’ve got one of my own, local people know me as the one-legged lady on the orange Omeo with a parrot on my lap!
‘The faster I go, the more she loves it. It’s changed my life.’
Sonia – whose complex health issues mean she’s had to spend a lot of time using a wheelchair over the last 10 years – first spotted the Omeo wheelchair when Adapt Ability appeared on Dragons’ Den in February 2023.
She was impressed.
So when she saw a Facebook ad for a free Omeo wheelchair trial with Matt (our Sales Director) and Darren (our Omeo Trialist Stylist) she got in touch.
A comfortable ride over bumpy ground
‘Matt was so out there with his Omeo. They were both fantastic and understand how things feel,’ she recalls.
‘They took the time to show me how it works and I was saying: ‘Let me have a go, I want to have a go!’– I’m a practical person so it didn’t take long for me to pick it up.
‘Matt took me around a wooded area with mud and leaves. We even went over a cattle grid, which would have been agony in my usual wheelchair.’
Not in the Omeo though.
Thanks to its self-balancing tech, Sonia says the Omeo wheelchair didn’t just cushion her over uneven ground – it also kept her comfortably ‘centred’ so she didn’t experience the motion sickness she usually gets.
‘Once you’re sat in it, you’re in it,’ she confirms. ‘It hugs my back so I don’t flop as I would in a normal wheelchair.’
Boosting confidence and freedom
The decision was made and Sonia excitedly took delivery of her own Omeo wheelchair last autumn.
‘Fun’, ‘fantastic’ and ‘free’ are the words she chooses to describe the effect its had on her life in the months since.
‘It’s been life-changing for me and my family, it really has. There’s so much more open to me now – grass, sand, gravel and woods, I can go over them all,’ she says.
‘It’s given me confidence and freedom, and I haven’t even used my wide wheels yet. It’s lifted my depression – it’s my lifesaver.’
Getting places faster with ease
As a former keen motorbiker, Sonia says she likes the Omeo wheelchair’s speed too.
‘I don’t get so cold when I’m popping to the shops and, in places that aren’t too crowded, I can easily weave in and out. People say: ‘Where’s that rocket come from?!’
‘I can also turn on the spot in tight spaces so I don’t have to reverse out. I can quickly get to friends’ houses then walk the short distance in.’
But that’s not all.
The Omeo wheelchair’s lighter weight and compact design also mean her car ‘doesn’t groan’ when she loads it, she says.
‘It’s so easy to take apart and I can pack other stuff around it. In fact I’m now thinking of swapping my seven-seater for a smaller car.’
And finally, we have to ask: what about Sonia’s parrot?
She laughs. ‘She’s an African grey and she’s very vocal. She loves coming out. I just put her in a rucksack on my lap, start the Omeo and off we go!’
Find out more
Want to test-drive an Omeo wheelchair? Choose one of three easy ways to try our self-balancing tech here
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