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Rosie Sinclair raised £8,165 from 273 supporters
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Closed 08/07/2021
Weʼve raised £8,165 to A chariot for Rosie
- Funded on Thursday, 8th July 2021
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Story
*Edit* you guys are quite frankly EPIC! We’ve reached my original goal of £3960 in 17 hours! What an amazing community we have here. Can we be a little more amazing? The £4K pays for my new chair, but it doesn’t pay for the power attachment i need for it in order to take me dog Ruffie out for walks. This Empulse is a battery powered trike attachment that clamps onto the front of my chair, and makes it into an electric wheelchair. Even though the chair is very light, I am still not able to self propel very far due to my crappy hand function (and the fact that Edinburgh’s pavements are terrible). At the moment, I need someone to push me if we’re going more than a few hundred metres - and I certainly wouldn’t be able to get to portobello to walk Ruffie, or to university for meetings with my supervisor without someone to push me. A power attachment would make me more independent overall and help me keep Ruffie well walked! For the Empulse we need another £2250. Can we make it?! ❤️
MY STORY:
At the beginning of lockdown, when everyone else was embracing furlough and learning to make banana bread, i was lying in a hospital bed with my left leg numb and completely paralysed following a run-in with a very small wall at a local beach. Over the next 2 weeks i had 4 operations to repair the spinal cord injury i‘d sustained and then to clean out an infection in my back. Along the way i developed Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), which basically means that my injury caused my brain and my legs to stop talking to eachother, and my core and hands are affected too. When it was over, i had no sensation or movement from the hips down: i was paraplegic.
For almost a year, i stayed in hospital and then rehab, trying to regain function and then learning how to make the most of what function i did have. Just before my accident, i set up thhe Edinburgh Mask Makers project, and continued to run it from my hospital bed. It gave me focus and perspective in a time when i could have been looking only inwards at my own fear. I also got a lot of comfort from sharing the experience with my instagram community (@ruffiedoesahelp) and learned so much about the disabled community and how i fit in there. I don‘t believe in the wisdom if “turning bad luck around”, especially when it comes at the price of denying your lived experience (ie it was shit), but i will say that if it weren’t for my disability i think i’d have gone through life blind to my own internalised ableism and i am at least glad that’s no longer the case.
I need your help because due to my disability i now use a wheelchair full time, and the one provided for me by the NHS is not suitable for my needs. It’s so heavy (19kg) that i dislocated my right shoulder whilst pushing within 48 hours of being home from hospital! The arm rests and footplates get in the way, and the back rest isn’t supportive enough for my compromised core. After a full assessment, i have found the perfect chair for my needs - my “chariot”, if you will - however, there is no way in hell i can afford it unaided! So i’m pulling out all the stops and asking for help.
A suitable mobility aid that allows a person to get outside should be a human right, but sadly disabled people are often expected to just stay home. I am a young student in the first year of my PhD and was extremely active. This light, well-fitting chair and power add on is the difference for me between a sad, house-confined life (where i may have to give up my dog, ruffie, due to not being able to walk her) and one full of fun and adventure. I’m not done yet, guys. Please will you help me to get beyond my front door again?
Updates
1
- 3 years ago
Rosie Sinclair
3 years agoWell guys, we more than smashed that! Thank you SO MUCH for everything, I don’t know what I would have done without all your support. The chair has been ordered, and the power attachment too. With the extra money I was able to upgrade to better quality carbon fibre wheels, and order some cool accessories like an underseat bag and frame bumpers. The excess has been put into a special account to pay for wheelchair insurance, and any future repairs and upkeep it may need. Now we wait. In 4-6 weeks, I will 🤞 have my new, life changing chariot.
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Supporters
273
Anonymous
Apr 4, 2021
Ah,I was really touched by your story Rosie .Thinking of you fondly,With lots of love,from Paul xox
Vin Murdoch
Mar 25, 2021
Very sorry to hear of your accident and happy to help get you some normality back in your life. Vin from Cadenza
Cati
Mar 24, 2021
Reading about your accident makes wanting to help with this wheelchair an absolute must! With love!
Gillian Brown
Mar 24, 2021
What a year you've had Rosie! Looking forward to seeing you back at Cadenza in the near future, and hope your new chariot offers the freedom you need. Astounded at your positivity and resilience xx
£25.00
Alan Wilson
Mar 24, 2021
From one of the guys who used to sit in the Bass 1 seats behind you. Sending you best wishes in finding new kinds of freedom.
£20.00
Anonymous
Mar 24, 2021
Amazed and in awe of your positivity and resilience.
Anonymous
Mar 24, 2021
£30.00
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Rosie Sinclair
I am a 29 year old PhD student who, due to a spinal cord injury with neurological complications, is a full time wheelchair user. My niece calls my chair my “chariot”, because she likes to pull it like a horse. Now I need a new “chariot” that is suitable for my active lifestyle!