rollwithbandicoot

[rollwithbandicoot]

Young Adults Respite

I have started a campaign for the urgent need to have somewhere for young adults who have disabilities to go for respite care.

Please visit the link below to read more about what I am trying to achieve.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/nhqnm?fbclid=IwAR19SkFZU93l9pfDLfjepM1ictH2W2c3YNVUcKN5JDkRj7YVFPkoUi6omHk

Thanks to medical advancements in technology, many of us are living well beyond what any of our doctors had expected. This is a great thing but sadly many of us feel that now that we have reached adulthood, it is almost like we have been forgotten about as no one had foreseen that we would make it this far and there are no places for respite for anyone older than 18. I would like to change this and help everyone across the UK have access to somewhere that is fully accessible for respite. Being physically disabled makes it extremely difficult finding accessible holiday destinations as some people require more than wheelchair access like for instance an electric bed to help with positioning and comfort, so to have a young adults hospice would be the best solution for so many people, it is something that all families and carers have been requesting for many years.

I am taking on this challenge and I will be giving it my all to make it a reality.

[rollwithbandicoot]

Accessible Sports/Hobbies

So I was going to do a few more posts about myself first but I have discovered something yesterday that definitely deserves to go first.

Because of my condition I have extremely limited movement and have never been able to do any type of competitive sport.

Yesterday I discovered an amazing company called Be Adaptive where they create rifle/gun mounts which can be operated by someone who has little to no ability to use their arms and hands.

With the HQ100 gun mount, aiming and firing can all be done by a chin joystick and a sip & puff switch but you also have the option to have hand controls instead.

This device will give me the chance to be involved in something that I have always considered to be beyond my abilities but thanks to Be Adaptive and the legend that is Brian Kyler, this now something that is definitely achievable!

I am looking at getting one of these mounts asap which I will show you all with videos how I get on with it.

Check out this video to see the mount in action and how they are changing peoples lives!

[rollwithbandicoot]

So what is Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)

So I thought for everyone that hasn’t heard of SMA before that I would start by explaining a little bit about it. Now I don’t like to get too medical as life is short and if it was up to my DR’s then I would be drugged up to the eyeballs and experimented on. I’m 34 and this how life is so you adapt and get on with it as best as you can. 

Here is a short video which explains all the medical sort of stuff about SMA 

But things aren’t as bad as they sound, yes life’s a bit different and sideways but SMA has given me so much more than what it has taken away so for that reason I feel lucky to of had this opportunity.

[rollwithbandicoot]

Well this is me...

HI all, 

Welcome to my blog @rollwithbandicoot where I share what living life horizontally 24/7 is like.

This is my first post and for all who don’t know me, my name is Christian Bandicoot, I am 34 and I was born with a muscle wasting condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy which basically means that I am missing the ingredients for my muscles to grow. I haven’t always been horizontal as I began racing around in an electric wheelchair at the age of just 11 months old. 

It was when I became the age of 15 that I could no longer manage to sit upright and adapted to life on it’s side.

So with each of my future posts I will be sharing how I get by in my own way with day to day life. Please feel free to send me your questions as and when you want to, the crazier the better!

“Life’s like a game of poker, it’s not about what cards you are dealt but how you play the game”