A SOLIHULL man has been given a new lease of life thanks to a new stair lift installed in his home.
Robert Jones and his wife, Ruth, have received a ‘life-changing’ free stairlift thanks to a unique partnership between Marie Curie and Acorn Stairlifts.
The company donates and installs up to five stairlifts every month for Marie Curie patients across the UK, enabling them to be cared for in their own homes.
For Robert, the stairlift has brought a new-found freedom, plus respite for his wife who is also his main carer.
After having several stents fitted to improve his heart function, Robert’s additional challenges with diabetes, kidney failure and breathing difficulties still meant that tackling the stairs in his home every day simply wasn’t an option.
The 68-year-old said: “Before the stairlift was fitted I was tied up in my bedroom and that was it.
“I didn’t really go downstairs because by the time I got there, I hadn’t got the strength to go back up.
“But after being referred to Marie Curie by my doctor, I’ve been helped no end.”
“I thought Marie Curie was for just cancer patients, but their occupational therapists have restored my independence by recommending me for a free Acorn Stairlift.
“When I returned home from the Marie Curie hospice, it was already installed and I can now get up and down the stairs without my wife following me up in case I fall, or coming down on my bottom.
“Now I can get down the stairs, into my wheelchair and to the end of the road.
“I can go down and make myself a cup of tea, or sit with Ruth for a couple of hours and then I’ll come up when I get tired. I am over the moon with it.”
“Without my new stairlift I would have given up by now. But when it was first fitted I went up and down like a yo-yo. I am over the moon with it.”
Nicky Read, head of corporate partnerships at Marie Curie, said they are delighted to see the benefits that the partnership with Acorn Stairlifts has for patients like Robert, who may have lost some of their independence.
