Well let us have a bit of positivity.

So, a while ago I did a post on a friend Alan, retired engineer who has helped me no end in keeping my independence by making solutions to daily issues.  Well I have another friend, also a retired engineer, slightly different though.  Tony was an engineer on oil rigs, but now he loves his gadgets, this how I met him.  it was because of the #fastestelectricwheelchair project, I wanted to have it filmed from a drone.  I put a post on face book and some one suggested Tony, what a great job he did, here is the link to that video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuhuLvxjhHA the music is a bit catchy too. so, from then Tony has been involved with the project. In his arsenal of gadgets, he has a 3D printer, heard about them but never knew how they work. So, when Tony was making some parts for my drone controls, he showed me how it works, amazing.

Like Alan, Tony makes solutions to everyday problems I face.  Alan saw one of Tony’s creations and was blown away, I will come to that soon.

First up is my Bluetooth speaker bracket.  Due to me having a prototype voice thanks to speak unique in Edinburgh, which is fabulous, the only issue is the volume is a lot quieter than other voices.  My solution was a Bluetooth speaker, a reasonable size one.  We tried it on the rear of my chair, that couldn’t be heard, that’s no good. So, Tony came with removable shelf that with a bit of Velcro to stop the speaker bouncing off.

Next up is the wheelchair button expander, I just made that up, lol.  As you can see without the device, there is nowhere to put the extra buttons.  Can I point out the extra buttons are because I can’t reach the other buttons at the top of the screen. The device simply slides over the controller.

This one is my personal favourite.  I have had this cup holder for 5 years, it was the most suitable one for my chair, however there were a few floors in it.  main issue is it wasn’t big enough, so the cup normally leans forward meaning I couldn’t reach the straw.

during a seating test for #fastestelectricwheelchair Tony noticed this and said, we’ll have to sort that.  So, he popped round and took some measurements and a spare cup, I have 3 off the same cup, great for and cold drinks. This is what he came back with.

Everyone has commented on it, it’s durable, lightweight, movable and for what it is, it is relatively cheap compared to other items that are far less practical.  It takes Tony’s 3D printer 12 hours to make the various parts, it’s well worth the wait.

I personally would like to thank Tony as well as Alan for the time they have given to make life a bit easier for me.  People say I am an inspiration, please remember I am nothing without my wife, girls and people like Tony and Alan. I am lucky and fortunate to meet lots of amazing people through my MND journey, I have a lot more people to thank in the future, but for this post thank you Tony and your wife Angela who regularly loses her husband to the shed.