wheelchair-history

But scooter along a bit to the Ancient Egyptians and you get at least the suggestion of something possibly representing a vague idea of what we now call a wheelchair.

This was a hand cart in which they put disabled people and used to push them around.

The Greeks could have built wheelchairs, but declined, instead inclining to recline on wheel beds. Nor were they self propelled. But don't be too hasty too call them lazy - these were built for their children, not for themselves.

So it fell to the Chinese to build the first wheelchairs. Initially these were chariots pulled by people, but these were replaced by wheelbarrows in which they wheeled disabled people to the fountain of youth. These were single use wheelchairs, as the people had no need of them on the way home.

The Romans wheeled their disabled to the fields, where they could work on the farms. Surprisingly, there were few complaints - you just don't complain to a people who feed slaves to lions.

There is little mention of wheelchairs thereafter until someone important needed them. That important person was King Philip the second of Spain. Under his guidance. wheelchair technology jumped ahead - his wheelchair even had adjustable footrests.

With a nation at his beck and call, a king may not place value on the ability to get around without assistance. However, a paraplegic watchmaker had different priorities.

His name was Stephen Steffler, and in 1655 he built the first self-propelled wheelchair - a box-like three wheeler with a lever attached to the front wheel.

This appears to have been a one-off, and the next famous wheelchair to be designed was not self-propelled.

Bath had been popular since the times of the Romans for its spas and healing waters. As such, it attracted many invalids, many of whom, of course, had reduced mobility. To solve this problem, a Bathian named Farler invented the Bath chairs so these bathers could bathe in Bath's baths.

Eventually, the first self-propelled wheelchairs invented themselves. However these original chairs were propelled by pushing the outer rim of the chair along, meaning hands got dirty. If you think stepping in dog poo is bad, try getting it on your hands - not the best thing to do on the way to a dinner party.

Soon, however, more advances were made. Separate push rims were added to wheels, making trips across the park less hazardous, and wheelchairs also became more lightweight, with wire spoke rings and adjustable backs.

Invention often flourishes in times of adversity. During the first world war, when thousands of invalids were being transported back to the UK, the first motorized wheelchair was invented. A few years later, a mining engineer was injured in a cave-in. His suffering eventually lead to his close friend, Harry Jennings, to invent a light weight steel tubular wheelchair in his garage.

This wheelchair would become the first mass-produced wheelchair in history.

Since then we have never looked back. We now have self-propelled wheelchairs, portable wheelchairs, indoor wheelchairs, outdoor wheelchairs, bariatric wheelchairs that can support people up to 50 stone in weight - there is even a wheelchair that lifts you up while balancing on two wheels. Wheelchairs technology is now truly amazing.

Now, all we have to do is figure out where that fountain of youth is....

E-commerce is supposed to be a young people's game. Jean Rasbridge decided to put that to the test when, several years ago, she and her husband started to move their disability business on-line.

At 56, an age when many women are approaching retirement, and despite having mobility problems of her own, she launched WheelchairsDirectUK.com.

The key to her website's success, she believes, are both the low prices they can offer - their products are often the cheapest in Europe - and their service.

"As you get older you lost much of the impatience of youth - and gain the understanding of age. And as I have used many of the products I sell, I can really help my customers choose the correct product."

Occasionally this means losing a sale.

"Sometimes we have to say to a customer that they need to go to a shop and try out the product themselves. And of course, that means we may lose the sale, despite having cheaper prices. But that's better than selling them the wrong product. Over the long term, it benefits us as well as the customer - people realise that they can trust us. That's why many of our customers come to us by word of mouth."

Jean Rasbridge will this month be featured in a Women Today article on "Women who inspire".

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