Help my wheelchair does not fit!

[myfaceismyown]

I have had mobility issues for the past 14 years after cauda equina syndrome diagnosed and emergency surgery. Fast forward to 2025 and I stood on a piece of metal with the foot I cannot feel, so had it surgically removed (I must really love hospital food - why else would I do it?). This has had on going problems so am now in a wheelchair, hopefully on a temporary basis. I picked a manual self propelled wheelchair over an electric scooter so I can at least burn a few calories, but this is where the problem lies. My flashy wheelchair has removable wheels so it fit in the boot - with buttons that press in - making it a couple of centimetres too wide for the average single shop door. Fine in my house with no mods, however. Further, even without these buttons, the average shop door is not wide enough to accomodate my hands on the wheels, even if the wheels might fit. This probably sound like a very odd issue to anyone who hs never tried to propel themselves in a wheelchair, but please take heed I was a super woman with no physical disabilites not so long ago and these are real challenges that I think many wheelchair users must face. Today I could not get into a Post Office by 2cm, so embarrassing! Anyone else had this happen to them?

Yeah, been there, done that, got the T-shirt (hanging on my handles which have swept it off the shop rail).

I now have an electric wheelchair which doesn't have the hands-on-wheels problem.

And some shops I don't even try to get in. I've got quite good at sitting on the pavement outside asking staff to bring things out to me. But I can see that probably won't cut it at a Post Office.

Commiserations.

I don't know if you're able to get up on sticks or crutches? You can get clips to attach them to the wheelchair, or chuck them inelegantly in a bag on the back of the chair.

I can walk a few metres out of the chair if I can then immediately sit down (stick-seat for this). If I couldn't, it really would mean an expensive taxi-ride to another town for some shops and services – just to reach one that's in a building a wheelchair can get into.

Such is life as a wheelie.

I think my point is that I took so much for granted walking I expected the same as a wheelie.

Sorry you’ve been through all of that op.
My father became a wheelchair user in mid- life and it really opened my eyes to lack of accessibility in everyday life.
I understand that older buildings can’t realistically all be adapted but things like giant tree roots pushing up the pavements and everyone keeping their wheelie bins on the pavements instead of moving them 1metre back into their front yards REALLY boils my piss.
There are a couple of disability advocates on social media - wheelie good life and Sophie Morgan are fantastic and really shine a light, particularly in regards to flying and using public transport. They may be of interest to you.

It’s horrendous how inaccessible so many places are. It seems the vast majority think that having a ramp or level access is enough. Few people think about doorway width or turning space when thinking and planning access.

Good luck with that. Sorry. Life in a wheelchair is actually a total demotion in 'rights' and access, as well as a feast of ongoing damage to spine, joints, and internal organs.

If you have upper body strength you will learn to pull yourself through narrow door frames using surfaces and door edges etc, where there's not enough space to use your hands to propel yourself. (Then you get arthritis in your strong fingers!)

Fellow recent wheelchair user. Eye opening isn’t it. I’m in a power chair and I’ve not encountered trouble getting through doorways yet but I can see why you’re having that problem. Steps are my enemy. The sheer amount of places that are inaccessible due to one poxy step. I’m also trapped on my estate and can’t just tootle down to the shop in mine, because there’s no drop kerbs on my road, well on most of the estate really. I’m currently on to the council about this. Local mp isn’t bothered and won’t help. So unless I go in the road or someone can take me out in their large car to accommodate my chair, then I’m trapped in my house.

sorry I have no solutions op x

Your said using the wheelchair is hopefully temporary. Is this due to the foot surgery healing and you'll be able to walk again afterwards? I might be completely wrong, but would a knee scooter be any good? Have you been seen by an OT to look at other chair options?

It's not a good long term solution, but I wonder if this portable roll-up ramp might be any use to you, @sharksnip ? Max load 300kg, rolls to less than 19 cm diameter so potentially could go in a back bag.

In the Q&A someone says the ramp itself weighs 7.8kg. I suspect it would be very easy to deploy and retrieve if you have help, and nigh impossible without.

(Much too heavy and unwieldy for my usual trick of attaching a cord to an aid to retrieve it after deployment.)

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9192407?clickSR=slp:term:wheelchair%20ramp:1:19:1

Thank you for the suggestion. I had one of those with a previous surgery but didn't get on with it as I can't feel much sensation in my left leg hip downwards as a result of the original surgery. I kept feeling I was going to slip off it!

Do you qualify for a mobility scheme car? If so you could get a car that fits the wheelchair. My sister in law was even allowed to change her car within the 3 year usual period because her needs changed.

@Arran2024 we bought an automatic SUV after my back op so I can still drive. In a way it is fortunate only my left side is affected. We chose a wheelchair with removable wheels so it will fit in the boot but I need a passenger with me to get it in and out. DD is super fast!

I knew a lady who had a wheelchair. She had a hoist fitted in the boot which lifted all the pieces of the wheelchair into the boot for her.

If you do qualify of motability (PIP with high rate mobility component) you could sell the current car and lease a car big enough for the wheelchair and hoist.

There are a huge range of notability vehicles out there and they come in automatic and can be adapted with ramps, hoists etc. If it's the detachable wheel buttons making your chair too wide then a chair which can be loaded without the need to remove the wheels might be the answer.

Accessibility is shockingly bad, OP. I had no idea until I used crutches for months.

@WonderingWanda Thanks for your thoughts on the car. I don't really want to change the chair as it is fantastic, particular over uneven ground and even at getting up a kerb. It is really easy to propel and the turning circle is super tight. I guess I could get a fixed wheel chair just for shopping... I was grumbling in my post as the shop I was trying to get into had a modern double glazed frontage, so you would think that they would have made the door wide enough for a wheelchair user. My hands actually stick out slightly more than the buttons on the wheel, so even without the buttons I would have had to use my arm on the door frame to pull myself through the doorway.

@Arran2024 yes I do qualify, just rather have my own car than lease one. Will look into hoists. Thanks.

It is just pants. Hope you have recovered now.

Ok, so there are things you can do. Does the chair have push rims? If it does, they can be unscrewed so the wheel width is narrower. Some people also take off one wheel, lean to the side as they go through the door, then put the wheel back on. That would probably take practice!

What brand is the wheelchair? Some have transit wheels that can be attached so you can remove the rear wheels for narrow spaces, then put them back on.

So many shops and buildings in the UK claim to be accessible and really aren't. It's incredibly frustrating.

@Lougle Thank you for your thoughtful reply, with some helpful suggestions. I need the push rims to self propel. My chair has extendable transit wheels you pull down when taking the wheels on and off, so yes we can pop the wheels off, push me in, then put them back on.

@WonderingWanda exactly. Particularly ridiculous when it is a new building! Another gripe along the same lines is this. My local council have recently put in a small car park for blue badge holders near a row of shop and a dedicated area for taxis. Guess which one is on the flat and which is at the bottom of a hill!