The SG50 Scooter Hoist: Dennis’ Journey with MS from Push Bike to Scooter

The SG50 Scooter Hoist – for your freedom and independence!

The SG50 Scooter Hoist for your freedom and independence – it does all that. Total Ability had the pleasure to meet another great person on our road to finding independent solutions for people with disabilities.

It was push bike riding with friends when Dennis Bartolotta experienced changes that would alter his life forever. As Dennis was riding, he fell, he got back up and started riding again. Not long after he fell again, this happened a few times that day on his push bike ride. Then the next day his left eye was seeing double… This started his medical journey to discover what was amiss.

Dennis has gone from push bike to scooter, that is how he gets around now.

It has been ten years since Dennis was diagnosed with MS. Life has changed along the way, push bike riding no longer an option and progressively where his muscles were previously strong, now they have become weaker and reducing his ability to get out and about on his own.

Dennis was guided by his Occupational Therapist Sally from Oates Rehab. Sally vetted many options to find one that would suit Dennis to achieve his goal for independence. When Dennis came to Total Ability last year, he was looking for a solution to give him more independence with his car. Dennis has gone from push bike to scooter, that is how he gets around now.  

The SG50 Scooter Hoist has given Dennis freedom!

The solution was finding a way to get the scooter in the car on his own so he could be independent and start doing things for himself rather than relying on others to get things done. It took some trial and error – Dennis and Sally visiting suppliers and then providing a comprehensive report to NDIS to obtain the funding to ensure Dennis’ need for independence became a reality. 

The SG50 scooter hoist was the perfect solution. With the capability to lift up and down electronically, it was going to be able to do the muscle work that Dennis no longer could do. 

He was able to take his boys to the zoo last summer.

We installed the hoist back in August last year and Dennis has not looked back. Recently we had the opportunity to see Dennis again when he popped in to have his hoist serviced. When we asked him what having the SG50 hoist meant for him, these are just a few ways that it has changed his life:

He was able to take his boys to the zoo last summer. That has given him so much satisfaction, doing what all Dad’s should get to do. He can now go to his local shopping centre on his own, attend doctors’ appointments without an entourage.

“I can go on my own, I don’t need my wife with me all the time”

It has made big changes to his ability to travel stress free. In the past Dennis would fly into his holiday destination in Australia, hire a car that ‘hopefully’ would be big enough to fit his scooter and all the luggage required. Most often the car was not as big as his Hyundai iMax back home that can fit everything! Choosing accommodation would also be more challenging on these occasions. He needed to find a room that could cater for his disability and also fit his scooter inside, rather than having to leave it in the corridor.

Dennis hasn’t had a holiday in many years now and never a road trip, but this November that’s exactly what he is planning to do. Hopefully State borders will be open by then and Dennis will be able to drive his own car with the SG50 hoist and the scooter and everything else needed for a holiday up to Paradise Resort on the Gold Coast.

“Finally – a holiday without being a burden on my family to get around…”

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