NEASSA GETS HER FREEDOM BACK AS LIONS DELIVER ADAPTED CAR
NEW CAR FROM BRAY LIONS CLUB IS LIFE-CHANGING FOR NEASSA
NEASSA Johnston Sugrue’s life has changed for the better since she got her new adapted car, just in time for Christmas.
‘ Thank you is such a small word,’ said the Enniskerry mum-of-two. ‘I have now got part of me back. I can do what I want as well as what I need, whereas beforehand I couldn’t even always do what I needed. If we’re out of milk, I can go and get some.’
Neassa’s previous car was no longer fit for purpose. It took at least 12 minutes, and sometimes up to 30, to get prepared for a journey.
She has had rheumatoid arthritis since childhood and now uses a wheelchair full-time. The mammoth task to prepare for a car journey included dismantling her chair and packing it into the car, a painful and exhausting process.
Increasingly, she was opting to not go places because she couldn’t face the ordeal.
After a campaign led by Bray Lions Club, the €24,000 needed to cover the Mercedes Sprinter was raised.
The second-hand vehicle had some adaptations already carried out, with the rest done by Wheelchair Cars Ireland.
‘It’s absolutely amazing,’ said Neassa. ‘I have a remote control with me on the chair. I press the button and the doors open at the back. The lift goes down, I press the button and go in, after it brings the chair up it folds up and closes the doors. I drive up to the steering wheel and click in, there’s a button to show you’re in and secure.’
There are then folding chairs in the back, which Neassa’s children Bláithín (11) and Adónai (5) can pull out and put back themselves.
There is also a facility to put in a seat for someone else to drive, and Neassa’s seat to be secured in a different part of the car.
‘My back isn’t sore anymore,’ said Neassa, who was due to have surgery for the pain. ‘Most of the damage in my back was from putting the chair in and out,’ she said.
The time it takes to get set up for a journey is now just around three minutes. The change has opened up a whole new world of freedom for the local mother.
The fundraising campaign was a huge success and Neassa is overwhelmed by the response from Bray Lions Club, her family and friends, parents at Scoil Chualann, and lots of people who don’t even know the family.
There were table quizzes, online fundraising, a concert and other events to help raise the money.
The result is that Neassa can do things which others take for granted, like go out to buy that litre of milk, or do some errands in Bray before collecting her son from school.
It’s proven quite popular with the children also, as they don’t have to shoulder any of the work in getting ready to drive. Adónai has some plans for the vehicle for the summer. ‘He wants to go camping in it!’ said Neassa. ‘We’ll have to see what the weather is like in the summer!’