Volar 10 Comfort Wheelchair: How my father inspired innovation at CareCo

When my father was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease at 86, I naturally selected one of our wheelchairs to help him stay mobile and comfortable. We decided that the newly released Volar 10 Self Propelled wheelchair would be a great choice, largely because it was very light and easy for mum to lift into the car.

The wheelchair was great and really helped my mum to get out and about with my father. It was only on a family trip to Blackpool that I became aware that he struggled a little with uneven pavements and steps - the ride around town was not as smooth as my father hoped for. What started as a promise to get him a better chair ended up with me helping to design a new model for CareCo.

My background in engineering helped me to identify improvements we could make to the Volar 10, which would make it more comfortable and practical for people like my dad, and so I took my suggestions to CareCo’s product development team.

My first thoughts were larger wheels at the front, and to also add suspension to the front wheels, to help with those trickier bumps and ridges. Although a seemingly simple idea, it still took many months to progress through research and development, and then the rigorous safety and performance testing process with our manufacturers, but eventually the final prototype was quality tested and passed for sale.

The result was the Volar 10 Comfort, which is now a key part of our product range.

The proLite VOLAR 10 Comfort wheelchair has many features that make it one of our best wheelchairs:

Front suspension for smoother rides over uneven surfaces

• Tension-adjustable backrest for better support and comfort

• Height-adjustable attendant handles to make it easier to push

• Larger front and rear wheels to improve stability and create a smoother ride

I feel proud to know that I’ve been able to use my father's and my own personal experience to help improve one of our products.

Sadly, my father passed away before he got to see the new wheelchair that he inspired us to build. However, even though he didn’t get to enjoy the comfort of the new Volar 10 Comfort wheelchair himself, I feel that his legacy lives on a little in the new product. And I know he would have been proud to travel around in a wheelchair that his son helped design.