Permobil: Live Life without Boundaries
Who doesn’t love the stories of the humble beginnings? Those companies that get their start in somebody’s basement and, decades later, their names have become synonymous with their industry. But even more, you’ve got to love those “rags to riches” companies whose products have such transformative power as to change the lives of every person who comes to own it.
Permobil was born from Swedish doctor and inventor Per Uddén’s innovative thinking and passion for solutions. But to understand his true legacy, you have only to look at the people whose possibilities have opened up with the help of their Permobil power wheelchairs.
Meet George Flores and his C500 VS Stander
Prior to his accident, this former heavy metal musician and renowned harp technician had travelled widely, plying his trade for symphonies and orchestras across the globe. Then, in an instant, it all changed. Not only could he no longer walk, servicing a six-foot-tall instrument from a seated position was never going to work, so he lost his career.
Until he found the Permobil C500, that is. Now this standing wheelchair allows George to continue to leverage his technical prowess in the work that he loves.
“That wheelchair was not only my hope, my key to my survival, but it was something that was inspiring others throughout the world,” George said.
Meet Johnnie Tuitel and his M300 Corpus 3D
“Disabled people are taught to survive, but I’m not about just surviving,” said children’s author and motivational speaker Johnnie Tuitel. “There’s a difference between just existing and living.”
It’s clear that Johnnie, who makes a living helping others focus on life’s potential rather than limitations, has chosen the latter.
“The Permobil in itself doesn’t define me, but the Permobil allows me to define who I am myself.” And who is he? An intelligent, funny, caring, take-charge, slightly irreverent individual who, as US Airways has discovered, is something of a force of nature. Remember the 2010 story of the wheelchair-using professional who was kicked off his flight for being “too disabled to fly” when he was on his way to speak at a conference on self-advocacy? That was Johnnie. He then proceeded to put his considerable communication skills to use and shared his story across the national news airwaves, much to the chagrin of an airline that did not anticipate the onslaught of negative press.
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