The second major group include those persons who must use wheelchairs on a "permanent" -- or non-temporary -- basis. Their ability to walk has become limited to some degree and thus need to use a wheelchair for a longer period of time than those who must do so on a temporary basis.

For "Long Distance" Mobility

The first group of "permanent" wheelchair users would include senior citizens and others who have reached a point in their lives at which walking for distances beyond a few steps or a city block has become too difficult to be practical or has become impossible. Such individuals no longer have sufficient strength or endurance to use their legs to walk such distances on their own. For these persons, use of a wheelchair for "long" distance travel often proves beneficial, enabling these individuals to continue to travel these distance despite their limited ability to walk.

Examples of these users would include but not be limited to people who have cardiac or pulmonary issues such as emphysema. These people are only in their wheelchair during the time involved in traveling "long" distances to their destinations and back home. Otherwise, they are moving about their home and/or their destination either on their own or with the aid of a walker, cane, or crutches.

-- Page W - 6 --