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New Wheelchair Update

After the amazing generosity from all of my supporters and the Conqueror community I visited Bromakin Wheelchairs yesterday to get some essential repairs to my current chair and look at new chairs.

We were there 2.5 hours and spent the time with Rob educating me.

We spent 2 hours with Rob at Bromakin wheelchairs. After assessing my situation we decided the best thing was for the engineers to work on my existing chair to get it able to carry me through the next few months. We now have a thorough but temporary fix to my current wheelchair.  I paid for this with savings, leaving the donations intact. 

This delay means I can save up for the extra cost and lose

 the remaining weight. The plan is to have a purpose built chair which means it can be lighter and stronger than an adjustable one. The total cost will be in the region of £4500+. In the time whilst I lose the weight I’ll also be gaining skills to be able to use a specialist chair effectively.

The delay is important because an adjustable chair is heavier and weaker due to the moving parts. Incredibly, the ‘test chair’ I used yesterday was only 15” wide, which is probably my correct width once I lose more weight.

For context my current chair is an 18″ and my power chair a 20″ i was genuinely speechless when Rob told me it was only 15″ wide. When 15 is comfortable I will be ready to order the new chair. 

The new chair is going to be  life changing, having test driven a similar one today my mind was blown with the possibilities of what I might be  able to achieve.


The chair needs to last and I need the support of a snug fitting chair (we are adding foam to the current chair to correct my position and prevent me sliding around)

I will be setting up a bank account to keep the money raised separate from my personal account. If you donated and are not happy with this plan please do get in touch.


What do I need to be ready to order
1 – to fit snuggly but comfortably in a 15” chair
2 – Improved core strength – core strength dictate angles of seat so the more my core strength is where it will eventually be the more suitable the final chair can be without building in adjustability

I realise everyone was hoping to see me in the new chair and able to move this adventure forwards quickly and that is why you were so generous. I hope you understand this is the most effective use of your money and gets me the best and longest lasting solution.

Some plans will be on hold but the work Robs team did today mean Wednesday can go ahead and so can Hadrian’s wall. I will have to do The Great North Run in my current chair too but that will just mean I will be faster in it in 2022 race when I have the new chair. 

In the meantime

  • I will be :
    hitting the gym regularly to build a core fit for the new chair
  • Working on my seating position on runs
  • Learning to balance in this chair – really important once I have a properly balanced chair to avoid tipping it over and landing on my head
  • Building up my general strength and running ability
  • We’ll be using the freewheel more too, to take some pressure off the front forks. 

When we do order the new chair we’ll also be needing a suitable cushion and push rims.  All of that will be decided nearer the day.  I also have some pretty bad hand issues and so it makes sense to wait to see whether they can be operated on or the new chair needs to accommodate it and it’s too soon to know that too. 

Please continue to follow this adventure to find out whether my bum will shrink and my abs will grow.
Thank you again for all your support