Remap Case Studies

Pushchair control

Meningitis as a child has left Celine unable to walk without calipers and crutches. This meant Celine was unable to take her young son, Chili, out in his pushchair. The Essex West panel made a device which clips to the pushchair handle and is sewn to a belt. This enables Celine to push the pushchair and control its direction. Celine is now able to take Chili to the shops or to the parks where she can mix with the other young mothers and their kids.

Walking aid extension

Brian has multiple sclerosis and is dependent on a walking aid.  His physiotherapist recommended a new one, a delta rollator, but Brian is tall - 6ft 7in- and had to stoop to use it.  This would have given him backache and prevented him walking far.  Members from Remap's Tyne panel inserted a specially machined extension piece, making the rollator the correct height for Brian to use it comfortably.  Brian's physiotherapist, Paul, wrote to the panel saying ' This has helped us resolve the problem in a very satisfactory way.  It will impact significantly on my patient's ability to move around his home and subsequently on his quality of life.'

Remote control for wheelchair

Sue has multiple sclerosis and uses and electrically powered wheelchair.  She can drive an adapted car, but once she has transferred from the wheelchair to the car, the wheelchair is marooned on the pavement.  Sue dreamed of having some way to control it remotely so that it could be put away safely and she could enjoy a day away from home.  Richard Brown of the Basingstoke panel solved the problem using a multi-channel model aircraft system and adapting it so that Sue could operate the controls on the wheelchair from the driving seat of her car.

Sue says. 'I always hoped there could be such a device.  But Remap has made it a reality.  I am now free, independent and totally amazed!'

'Arm' for one armed golfer

James is an active 23 year old who plays football and snooker and goes fishing, but he wanted to add golf to his repetoire.  He has virtually no left arm but does have three fingers.  He was very dispirited when doctors told him he could only play with one arm, but nurses at the hospital put him in touch with the Shropshire Remap panel.  Alberto Molena made a device consisting of a spring and universal joints which enable James to make use of his left side fingers to increase his control and strength.  He and his family are delighted, and his parents bought him a day's golfing at The Belfry to celebrate his new skill.

Bowling wheelchair

John has leg and back problems that started when he was a child, and he can now walk only a short distance with arm crutches.  He loves playing indoor bowls using a bowling wheelchair, but since he lacks the strength in his back to push himself he has to rely on other players to move him around.  He longed to be independent when he played.  Brian Pile of the Bournemouth panel motorised one of the bowling wheelchairs for him, using spares from an old electric wheeelchair.  John can now whizz around the green picking up woods. 'The buggy's performance on the green is superb. I cannot thank you enough.  I shall now be able to play for more years than I dared hope.'

Alice's car

Alice has a rare skin condition, xeroderma pigmentosa, which means she is highly prone to skin cancer and cannot go out without cream and protective clothing all over her body.  She found this so irksome she preferred to stay indoors, which her parents felt was very sad for such a lively little girl.  Jack Rae of the Carlisle panel made her a toy car she could safely use outside by fitting it with a screen which acts as an ultra violet filter.  Alice adores her car and has asked Jack to make her another one she can keep at school for playtimes.  Her parents are thrilled that she can enjoy the fresh air and feel Remap's work has made life better for the whole family.

Cooking trolley

Helen has cerebral palsy, speaks with difficulty and has mobility only in one hand and foot.  But this hasn't stopped her getting a degree in astrophysics at York University, driving a converted van and working for BBC Wales.  She has helpers for cooking and cleaning , but was determined to prepare some of her meals herself - a favourite being pizza.  She asked Roger Vaughan of the Gwent panel to make her something to get food into and out of both the microwave and the oven. The trolley Roger has made has a tray which moves up and down between the two ovens, can turn through 360 degrees and extend.  He also plans to make her a special tray and make sure the whole process of pizza production works for her.  Roger says 'Helen is truly inspirational in the courageous way she tackles life and the impressive amount she has achieved through sheer determination.  I am very happy indeed to be able to help her do things she wants to do.'

Ball throwing device

Lorna has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.  In spite of this she is hugely energetic.  She specialised in dance/movement therapy and autistic spectrum disorder at university, and now has three different jobs to keep herself busy.  She owes a great deal to her adored canine partner, Eli, whom she says she relies on from the beginning to the end of the day for a huge variety of tasks.  Everything this versatile and enthusiastic dog does for her is one more piece of independence added to the jigsaw of her life, and she values him enormously.  She longed to be able to give something back to him, and being unable herself to throw a ball she asked the Hertfordshire South panel to make her a device that would help.  Brian Bloomfield took his inspiration from the Roman ballista in constructing this ball-hurling mechanism to attach to Lorna's chair.  Now when she takes Eli into the nearby park she can entertain him in a way which drives him into a frenzy of pleasure.  'Brian is an absolute gem', she says, 'It's wonderful to be able to give Eli a reward he enjoys so much.'

Arm extension for child's bicycle

Isabella is a little Suffolk girl who was born with a hand and part of her forearm missing.  When she reached the age where her contemporaries were starting to ride bikes, she could only look on longingly.  Being unable to join in with them was something she clearly felt keenly.  Then Remap came along in the shape of Alan Jeffs of the Cambridge panel. 'Riding a bike is part and parcel of being a child' said Alan. 'I was determined to find a way to make it possible for her.'  Alan adapted a bicycle for Isabella so that she could effectively hold the handlebar and steer it.  Now she happily goes out with her friends on bike-riding expeditions in the local parks and is thrilled with her new-found power.

Baby carrier for wheelchair

Emma relies on a wheelchair but very much wanted to be able to carry her delightful little daughter Charlotte with her as she went round the house and the garden and to be able to take her into the local park.  David Tween, from the Remap panel in Southampton, used a baby bike seat normally mounted on a bicycle saddle stem and mounted it instead on a steel tube with the footrest taking the weight.  The seat is easily removable.  Emma says' 'David was spectacular.  He really got involved in what we needed and took a lot of trouble to come up with different ideas and try them out.  I would hate not to be able to have Charlotte close to me all the time.'

Special tricycle for a little boy

Eoin, in spite of his diminutive size - he suffers from ultra dwarfism - really enjoys playing with his young frineds but at one time he could not join them when they played on their tricycles, as no commerical trike is small enough for Eoin to manage.  Then Charles Dobbin of the Gloucestershire Remap panel stepped in and made him a small tricycle from scratch adding the smallest suitable wheeels.  Eoin took to his new trike immediately.  His mother says, 'He loves it so much he even tries to take it to bed with him.'  At four, he is just starting to outgrow it so Charles is increasing the size of the wheels to give it extra height.  He loves doing jobs for Eoin; no Remap client is more rewarding to help than this delightful little boy.'

Embroidery ring clamp

This is one of the myriad of jobs that Remap does every year for people suffering the effect of stroke.  Sylvia was a keen embroiderer, but after her stroke wasw unable to continue.  Huw Thomas of the Leicester panel was asked to devise a way by which embroidery frames of any diameter could be held rigidly so that her one good hand could be devoted to manipulating the needle.  Huw produced this clever clamp for her, and Sylvia is delighted with the way she can now embroider again.

Pivoting tables

Linda has rheumatoid arthritis and spends most of her day in her reclining chair.  She was thrilled with the elegant design of the structure Richard Brown of the Basingstoke panel made for her, but even more important was its smooth functioning - the two tabels, one for her meals and the other for her laptop, are perfectly stable in position but move in and out at a touch, while the framework avoids interfering with the reclining movement of the chair.