Help to get a wheelchair that meets needs

My name is Jerrica and I’m 25, I have a condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), it’s a connective tissue disorder that can effect everything in the body the most common symptom and one that very much effects me is joint laxity which causes frequent dislocations and subluxations (partial dislocations) of the joints, this is very painful and isn’t caused by any trauma I can dislocate something just by changing my position for example by putting my coat on I can dislocate my shoulders or changing the position I’m sitting or lying in can cause my hips to dislocate. EDS is genetic so I was born with it although not diagnosed until I was 18 due to us not knowing what it was or having any known family history, its also degenerative meaning it gets worse as you get older. I used to be very mobile and active when I was younger I walked everywhere and was always going on ling walks in the countryside or just around town, I went camping every year from the age of 5 spending my summers with friends and family. I started getting pain while walking when I was in my teens but largely ignored it, this continued to get worse until my mobility started to decline and the dislocations/subluxations were becoming more frequent I first ended up on crutches when I dislocated my hip getting off the toilet when I was 21. I was having to use a wheelchair for longer distances as the crutches were causing my shoulders and wrists to dislocate/sublux luckily I managed to get off the crutches once my hip had healed but from there my mobility continued to decline and I was on and off crutches and was struggling to walk far. I was training to be a nurse which was (and still is) my dream and something I was incredibly passionate about unfortunately my health became more unstable and I was in and out of hospital all the time with then undiagnosed gastro issues now we know I have gastrointestinal dysmotility but it took a long time to get that diagnosis or the help I needed so I was left with no option but to leave uni until my health was better as I could no longer manage. I was incredibly malnourished and barely able to eat until it reached the point I couldn’t eat anymore, I ended up in hospital yet again where a feeding tube was placed for the first time, this helped me start getting better and to gain weight but I was sent home without it to try and manage on nutritional shakes. I lasted two months at home before going back into hospital where I got retubed and was sent home with it, I’ve now been tube fed for nearly 3 years and there’s been lots of ups and downs in that time. During this time I ended up in a wheelchair because I was housebound due to not being able to get very far on crutches although I continued to try with them as I didn’t want to wnd up stuck in a wheelchair needlessl to say as my mobility continued to deteriorate I eventually ended up completely unable to walk despite my best efforts to make sure that didnt happen. During my 6 month admission last year for the first time I found my upper body strength being hugely effected due to severe malnutrition as I’d stopped tolerating my tube feeds. This weakness is because I experienced a loss of muscle mass not from lack of use but rather down to the lack of nutrition at one point I could barely sit myself up unsupported, thankfully that is no longer the case but I still have very little upper body strength so I struggle to transfer safely, where l used to be able to lift my own body weight up on my arms. I struggle to lift things like bags of shipping or clothes. On top of this my lower body strength is worse then it was before although this doesn’t impact me as much as the loss of upper body strength. I’m needing a lot more help with day to day things then I did prior to going into hospital and I’m hopeful that getting this new wheelchair will give me back some of my independence as well as having regular physio. The best thing about this wheelchair is that it has a raise feature which allows you to raise the wheelchair higher up just by pressing a button it will allow me to do my own shopping without needing help as well as being able to reach cupboards and shelves in my house that are currently out of my reach and I’ll be more easily able to wipe down one of theworktops in my kitchen that goes into a corner behind the cooker that at the moment I find hard to reach into as it’s a standard height I could alsouse these worktops to prepare food or bake rather then being limited to only one small lowered surface. I could also do things like change light bulns when they die and hang pictures and photos on the wall myself. It’ll give me soo much independence which means the world when I’ve lost so much of that over the past year. If you’ve got this far thanks for reading and I’d really appreciate it if people could share this post to help my fundraiser get more visibility and hopefully raise the money needed for the new wheelchair xx