My story is a long weird one… my injury/disability that controls the most of my life is a condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, in my right leg. It is a malfunction of the central nervous system that when I got an anti nausea shot of Promethazine/Phenergan was given to me via gluteal injection, my body instead of healing normally caused permanent issues that I now have to live with atrophy, sensitivity to touch, a permanent bruise, the ability to use my right leg, and a lot more. I have been interested in one of these chairs especially since my last wheelchair accident I had. I thought I did a wheelie high enough to go over our awfully paved sidewalks and roads and I was unfortunately catapulted with my chair attached forward and halted traffic until I got somebody to help me back into my chair after the fall. I have had more than my fair share of accidents which has caused further injury to my right leg. For the last 3 years since I have had this condition I have had to change my life drastically which devastated me. I can KINDA get away with going on grass but pretty much nothing else is available for me. This year I will be getting a permanent spinal cord stimulator implant to help with the pain, if I could feel no pain and be able to get around however that may be I wouldn’t be so “useless” and unable to go and have fun on beaches, pebbles, dirt, cracks and bumps. My current wheelchair is amazing but it can’t handle my own neighborhood I live in and it’s sad because I just want to get out of my house and live my life like before my injury. Having a smoother ride over rough terrain and things would be such an improvement. My condition is ranked the most painful form of chronic pain and many of the little bumps in the road make enjoying my time harder. With my SCS implant depending on activity could alter the feeling with bumps and make it more intense if I hit a literal large bump in the road. Again having a smoother ride would improve that problem greatly. I am actually gathering information for the last few weeks to take to my city council to try and get the sidewalks paved safer because of the amount of accidents I have had. A side note, I recently learned after I asked some friends why they didn’t ever ask if I wanted to go hiking or walking somewhere they told me they didn’t think my chair could handle it and that my disability would get in the way making it be too much of a hassle to have. Having a chair specifically made for off road terrain would be such an improvement of my current quality of life. I really just want to live and explore again… I only get to explore my front yard and not much else. I want to do so much more.

– Desiree Jaykins