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Maureen, on the road

Maureen lives with her husband of 38 years, Geoff, on the Central Coast of NSW. Maureen is a very active 67 year old who has had an above knee amputation and wears a prosthetic leg.

Swimming, kayaking, chorale singing and numerous handicrafts are a few of Maureen’s hobbies. She has even swung on a 30m high trapeze and attributes this to the encouragement from her husband and the Club Med holiday resort staff.

Travel and bike riding are also her favourite things to do. Previously Maureen had a Freedom Wheels bike but had some difficulty generating power up hills and overcoming the uneven camber on the roads.

On these occasions she needed assistance from her husband. As a result Maureen decided to try a trike but she still couldn’t generate enough power to get up the hills and footpath gutters.

After being told her trike couldn’t be converted and she would need to buy a whole new motorised trike, Maureen contacted local TAD Central Coast Branch volunteer and Chairman, John Rose.

‘Having such obliging, locally based TAD volunteers to help with any adjustments or concerns is great. I can go to John or he can come to me, and I don’t have to travel to Sydney.’

John attached a powerful battery operated motor on the front wheel of the trike, complete with an electronic controller. In addition he provided a spare battery for back up on long trips. These are easily re-charged on any normal power point.

John also installed disc brakes on the front, a headlight, lights on the back of the rear basket and mudguards. He then made a brace to help hold Maureen’s prosthetic leg and foot on the pedal.

Maureen is now able to ride much longer distances and simply turns on the motor for more support when riding on inclines and other obstacles like low gutters.

‘For me it’s a fun way to exercise and see the scenery. All the problems I had previously have been overcome thanks to the innovative thinking of TAD volunteers. For this I am profusely grateful and for their ongoing help.’

Maureen and Geoff have taken the trike to Canberra and even rode 26km in one day. They’ve also taken it up to Cairns and explored the far north coast of Queensland, enabling her to see so much more of the local sights at her own pace.

‘Before I couldn’t ride unless Geoff was there, whereas now I have the freedom to ride when and where I like. We are so lucky to have such an organisation as TAD and their great team of volunteers.’

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Solve-TAD acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to elders past, present and emerging.