Caroline Waugh has one ambition: to cycle her kids to school in September. It might not sound like a big ambition, but Caroline suffered a brain injury in a car accident 21 years ago which left her with a weak left side and mobility problems.
Although she can walk short distances, she finds it difficult to judge kerbs and cannot walk uphill so she needs a mobility scooter to get about.
Now she is planning to swap her electric scooter for a trike on trips to the local shops and wants to cycle her two children, 10-year-old Daisy and six-year-old Finn, to school.
“My electric scooter doesn’t get me fit – it’s just like an armchair on wheels,” she says. “I was starting to put on more and more weight and I needed to do some exercise I could incorporate into my daily routine.”
Caroline, who is 42 and lives in Sheffield, contacted the CTC to see if they could help and for the past few weeks she has been trying out a trike at their Cycle for Health sessions in Endcliffe Park. CTC officer Steve Marsden who has been helping her learn to ride says she’s doing well and building her confidence.
“All the other parents and teachers know me on my mobility scooter,” says Caroline. “For me to do a big thing like turn up at school on a trike would be ‘wow’! I don’t want to fail.”
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Posted by Trina on 24 July 2009, 14:58
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