Great adventures: My wheelchair set me free

When keen skier Caroline Crook-Bowen broke her ankle in three places and faced months of rehabilitation, she was expecting a grim time. But she discovered within weeks that life in a wheelchair was liberating.

“It became this most amazing tool that I could use to go out and explore places,” she said.

The wheelchair became her lifeline and allowed her to shop, get out of her first floor London flat and stay socially connected.

‘My wheelchair unlocked a lot of positivity and opportunity,” she said.

“For the most part, people were really, really helpful. It was totally liberating.”

The pavements in London were difficult, but the transport system served Caroline well and she travelled the country visiting friends and family.

The climate tech entrepreneur sustained some serious injuries. But it was the damage to her ankle which made life tough as she was unable to put any weight on her foot. 

Fortunately her mother met her in the UK with a wheelchair with a leg extender. 

“She got it from a company called WheelFreedom,” said Caroline. “It was such a perfect name because the wheelchair gave me so much freedom.”

But for Caroline, a loss of mobility was more than about not getting around: “I would say at times I did feel very isolated, even with the wheelchair. And so I can only imagine how bad it would have been without it. 

“You start to lose your connections. For me, it was about getting better. But I can also imagine for older people… how quickly you start to disengage with society.”

Although she was embarrassed by the fuss created when she went into restaurants, she was astounded at the effort local businesses made to accommodate her, even though the chair didn’t fit the tables. 

But there was still a problem:

‘They’ve got to have a space to put your chair when you’re not in it. That was a real barrier. Mobility scooters… they’re pretty big and chunky too. And then you’ve still got to park them somewhere.”

A powered chair – like the Centaur – would have made life easier.

“I love the way the Centaur fits under the table. And I love the way it can go up at the bar. It can just raise you up so you can pick things off a shelf.

“Being able to do all of that in a chair is incredibly valuable. And I think that inclusivity is really important.”

She described the Centaur as solving a problem and shaping it around a human need. 

“The Centaur’s quite exciting. It doesn’t look medical. It looks comfortable. It’s a lovely elegant design, it’s electric and in a restaurant it allows you to move between tables and chairs, without causing a huge kerfuffle.”

Caroline made a full recovery and a year after the accident signed up to circumnavigate the world in a yacht race. 

But she looks back at her time in the wheelchair with a lot of positivity. “It was the only way I could exercise and get fresh air. And I got to know a lot of great people along the way. I had some great adventures.”