Never a Dull Moment When We Fly by Derek Garner

I have just returned from my fifth holiday in New Zealand visiting my son and his family.

I have always had problems with the transfer to and from my wheelchair to and from the aircraft seat and have suffered as a result and have always spoken to the companies at length to explain my needs with very limited success. This time I picked Qantas as a result of a website promoting wheelchair friendly travel. I spoke to Qantas staff and explained my situation and also my interest in their new Eagle hoist. At every stop on my journey I was met by staff who had obviously been told about my flight and were expecting me. I was handled with courtesy and respect and was looked after at all times.

Several staff members pointed out to me, unprompted, that they no longer used the hoist as two strong men were more efficient, which proved to be the case. Dubai was my worry after a bad experience there some years ago but they were excellent with one man allocated to my care during the time I was there. At Heathrow a special transporter machine was brought to the plane and I was moved from the plane via this machine from Term 3 to Term 5 by Gary and Omar. Brilliant. In the flight from Sydney to Heathrow on an Airbus 380 my wife and I finished up with two seats on the middle block of four the other two were unoccupied by accident or design, so my wife could lay down and have a sleep.

It was obvious to me that Qantas had told their staff at all points where I was due to be, of my disability. This is really all I have ever asked airline companies to do but Qantas actually have done it and I will use them again and would certainly recommend them.

The BA shuttle from Manchester was 90 minutes late leaving so we missed our Qantas connexion at Heathrow. Fortunately we were eventually offered a Virgin Atlantic flight to Auckland via Shanghai.
When we got to the plane my wife was told that they had found two seats together and we were put into business class. Ten hours in luxury, my how the other half live. We had a very pleasant trip I can assure you.

I have been to New Plymouth in New Zealand five times and the last leg from Auckland is in a twin prop small plane accessed from the runway.  They transfer me from my chair onto the aisle chair on the runway then push me into a cage attached to a fork lift truck. They then raise the cage to the entrance of the plane and push me in. Sounds odd but it does work very well. Reverse the procedure at New Plymouth. Apart from losing both our suitcases, the flight there and back were as good as it gets if you are in a wheelchair. I can’t praise Qantas enough for their attention to detail.
Upgraded to Business class, presented with champagne and a large single malt, hoisted on a fork lift truck, lost cases, missed flights.

Never a dull moment when we fly.

Alicante Holiday August 2016 by Dawn Wilbur

Hi lovely people! 

I’m Dawn…a little bit about my life with the Neuromuscular Centre which has played a major role for the past 22 years …. in a positive way, I hasten to add. I moved to Cheshire from Kent (my husband and I did not know a soul in Cheshire – scary!) and fortunately discovered  the NMC - situated only 4 miles away! Lynne Groves, Gordon Styles, Woolley and Cundall family (“the originals”) soon made us feel welcome and had me organized with physiotherapy sessions (cannot express how euphoric those treatments felt considering I had not received any physiotherapy for 19 years prior!)….hydrotherapy, office work, fundraising events and incredible, lifelong, friendships soon blossomed :) with many, many more amazing friends connected to this unique, innovative centre of excellence!

Anyway, if anyone is still awake! ..…I’d like to tell you the practicalities/niceties of my holiday experience to Alicante in August 2016; from a mother of a teenager (woteva!) point of view … oh, also, forgot to mention! I use a dual controlled, powered wheelchair for mobility and hoists for transfers – here goes… 

Alicante is the capital of the Costa Blanca with a mixture of historic buildings, beautiful beaches and serene harbour.  

A superb shopping centre with a huge choice of fashion shops, department stores, restaurants, and bars. 90% of the Cathedral can be viewed from a chilled, seated, eye level. Santa Barbara Castle overlooks spectacular views of the City and Mediterranean Sea - accessible via a levelled tunnel and manned lift. Beaches have wooden slatted ramps for wheelchair/pushchair access and one beach has special aqua-chairs to take you in to the sea.

We stayed at a Melia Hotel TRYP Alicante Gran Sol - accessible rooms which catered for medium sized wheelchairs, lifts were not very particularly spacious, restaurant and all employees were extremely helpful when required.  

MobilityEquipmentHireDirect.com  T: 0800 994 9000 hired a portable hoist for hotel which was in situ on arrival.

WheelchairAccessibleHolidayTaxis.com  T: 0800 622 6000  transfers ran smoothly: driver extremely helpful (took my headrest on the airplane)… dread being bobbed around in the back of a taxi like a nodding canine. 

Manchester T3 changing room is at departures only (as far as I know) gate 53 around or that area. I am flying in June so I am trying to liaise with airport access team to provide a portable hoist for arrivals.

Holiday in Benidorm

We had a recommendation from Joseph James Cardwell following his holiday at a Service Group Hotel in Benidorm.  Access isn’t just about having the appropriate adaptions, the right training and just the willingness to help are also important.

“In October 2015 I went on my holiday to Spain Benidorm. Everything went ok on the flight, we were picked up on time and taken to the 3 star hotel Helios. Outside and inside the rooms were very clean.  The weather was hot, the food was good with plenty of it and the nightlife stops at 4am, if you can keep up with it. Every day I would go down to the pool in the afternoon and swim for an hour.” 

Joseph was particularly impressed with the support of the lifeguard. While the pool was not specifically adapted, seeing that Joseph was not using the pool, the lifeguard on duty approached him and offered him assistance to get in and out. Being able to swim each day made a real difference to his enjoyment of his holiday.