Jane Robinson has never been one to sit still and is now embracing her new Levo C3 standing power wheelchair to regain her mobility and independence.

The 67-year-old was cutting branches off a large tree, which had toppled during Cyclone Gabrielle, when she slipped and fell 7m, breaking her back in multiple places along with several ribs.

“I remember this whooshing sound in my ears that felt like it went on forever. I knew I was tumbling and thought I’d landed miles away from the tree. But the person that I was with said I went straight down.”

Adjusting to life in a wheelchair has been incredibly difficult, and made it necessary to sell her two-story home and move to a smaller lifestyle block on the outskirts of Whangārei. Her ‘to-do’ list currently includes wrangling her new garden into shape, repairing some guttering, touching up the interior paintwork and unpacking an enormous number of boxes. All of which is difficult to do while sitting down.

The Levo C3 is ideal for active people who need to be on the go. It provides users with a smooth and stable transition to a standing position. The seat, backrest and armrests are fully adjustable. It can climb curbs or negotiate uneven surfaces up to 100mm high and can complete a full turn in just 1170mm of space.

Jane Robinson has never been one to sit still and is now embracing her new Levo C3 standing power wheelchair to regain her mobility and independence.

The 67-year-old was cutting branches off a large tree, which had toppled during Cyclone Gabrielle, when she slipped and fell 7m, breaking her back in multiple places along with several ribs.

“I remember this whooshing sound in my ears that felt like it went on forever. I knew I was tumbling and thought I’d landed miles away from the tree. But the person that I was with said I went straight down.”

Adjusting to life in a wheelchair has been incredibly difficult, and made it necessary to sell her two-story home and move to a smaller lifestyle block on the outskirts of Whangārei. Her ‘to-do’ list currently includes wrangling her new garden into shape, repairing some guttering, touching up the interior paintwork and unpacking an enormous number of boxes. All of which is difficult to do while sitting down.

The Levo C3 is ideal for active people who need to be on the go. It provides users with a smooth and stable transition to a standing position. The seat, backrest and armrests are fully adjustable. It can climb curbs or negotiate uneven surfaces up to 100mm high and can complete a full turn in just 1170mm of space.

“It’s a very easy chair to use and very comfortable,” she explains. “The support guard in the front is a great feature because I just take the chest strap off and I don’t use that at all. I’ve got enough control of my upper body that I can lean right forward, right out with a pair of loppers or something like that, and prune things and chop things in the garden. We’ve got a big bank at the back of our new house that we’re doing as a garden at the moment with a retaining wall. So, it means I can get right up close and actually do some of the planting myself in the immediate area, which is really nice.

“There’s also a piece of guttering outside that needs a bit of paint underneath where it joins. And with the Levo C3 I should be able to reach that and seal it with silicon afterwards. That’s the sort of thing that I need to be able to do.”

“It’s a very easy chair to use and very comfortable,” she explains. “The support guard in the front is a great feature because I just take the chest strap off and I don’t use that at all. I’ve got enough control of my upper body that I can lean right forward, right out with a pair of loppers or something like that, and prune things and chop things in the garden. We’ve got a big bank at the back of our new house that we’re doing as a garden at the moment with a retaining wall. So, it means I can get right up close and actually do some of the planting myself in the immediate area, which is really nice.

“There’s also a piece of guttering outside that needs a bit of paint underneath where it joins. And with the Levo C3 I should be able to reach that and seal it with silicon afterwards. That’s the sort of thing that I need to be able to do.”

Jane had been using a standing frame at home for 20 minutes a day but was experiencing pain in her hips so has stopped using it. “Whereas with the Levo C3, I can stand up and because it’s not got any sides to it, there’s no restriction on my hips. So, the big thing for me is I can get on the Levo and not be restricted and do things while being pain-free.”

The Levo C3 also provides much-needed pressure relief, allowing her buttocks to have a break from sitting down all day.

“Eventually, when I’ve got my sewing room set up, I've got one of those tables that you push a button and it goes up or down. I will possibly bring the Levo C3 inside and have a cutting out day where I could stand up and put the weight of my body down on my cutting tools for quilting. So, I could actually have a full day of doing that.”

Jane has been able to stand on the sideline to watch her grandchildren play football, and has driven it on a 4km concrete loop track near her new home. She says a key learning is the maximum safe slope is 10˚, meaning she has to be careful to drive and turn on relatively flat surfaces.

“The Levo is extremely easy to use, I’m still getting used to driving standing up, which is not quite so easy because you’re driving on the front wheels so they’re directly below your feet. I’m new to all this and that’s going to take some mastering. At the moment I sit down and drive to where I want and then get up again. You can turn in a circle quite easily and quite quickly. It’s very manoeuvrable like that.”

Cubro’s Solutions Specialist, Henry Bertulfo, has visited Jane several times at home to help adjust and customise the chair to suit her needs.

“Henry came and did a trial with me alongside my physio as well. Initially, I couldn’t sit down again after I stood up without one of them leaning on the seat because I was a bit too light. So, they adjusted this and that which was great.

“Henry came back another day and we had a good go around the place with it. He told me all that I needed to know and was really good. I think Cubro are a good firm to deal with. I’ve got my bed and my commode and things like that through Cubro too, so I’ve had Tony in and out the house quite frequently and he’s great to deal with as well.”

Jane is now looking to add a 4WD all-terrain chair to her range of equipment so she can access steeper parts of her lifestyle block. “I’ve had a very good trial of that and if I can go anywhere on this property, that will be brilliant.”

To find out about our range of powered wheelchairs please get in touch with our team.

Cubro case studies are based on actual testimonials provided by real customers and users of our solutions. In some testimonials to protect the identity of the users, we have changed a name and used a stock photo. Our case studies describe our past work with customers and users, and detail solutions that have improved their quality of life. As each individual user has a unique set of needs and requirements, the content in these case studies should not be used as a substitute for professional advice from a registered clinician.