Gardening on an iWALK

We had the following story from Geoff Stonebanks of Driftwood Garden, who has found his iWALK 2.0 invaluable:

To someone who has created a multi-award-winning seaside garden that has raised in excess of £130,000 for charity over recent years, the prospect of being on crutches for several weeks at a really critical time of the gardening year, due to a torn Achilles tendon on my left leg, is a pretty daunting prospect. There is just so much to do between early March and 1st June to get the garden ready to open.

After being told I would need to have my ankle in a boot, back in late February, and then to be non-weight bearing for several weeks, I thought my world had fallen apart. The prospect of a pair of crutches in my hands in the house alone was unthinkable, never mind the thought of being able to do anything in the garden. My office is on the first floor of the house too, so negotiating stairs was imperative. Then my partner did some research online and found the iWALK 2.0!

I studied the online blurb very closely and have to be totally honest, I thought it was a lot of money and wondered if it would really work for me. But, given my level of incapacity and the knowledge of everything I wanted to achieve, I thought sod it! I have never been one to sit on my laurels in good health, never mind bad! I made an instant decision to purchase one. I contacted Jerry and ordered for next day delivery! It arrived late the next day, so I left assembly to the following day. It was very easy to set up with an excellent pair of videos to watch on YouTube, both for assembly and use.

Now, I have to be honest, in the house, I was able to get around with just the iWALK2.0 and two hands-free fairly quickly, even getting upstairs. However, to be honest, at first, I did struggle outside without a reassuring crutch/stick support in the right hand. This soon began to change as I gained more confidence and remembered to look straight forward and not down at my feet.

I’ve now had the iWALK2.0 for just over a week and my confidence has grown immensely. So much so that I have been able to get out in the garden in the last couple of days, in between the rain, with it and with no crutch as additional support. Now, if any readers have seen my garden they will know that is a challenge in itself, as it is on an uphill slope and has many levels and steps! Whilst I have to admit that kneeling and working at ground level is not that easy, although the iWALK2.0 has 3 incredibly easy to remove and fix straps that allow kneeling down in one point for a while (removal of iWALK2.0 and attaching again, taking only moments). My ability to move around the garden and complete basic things such as potting up in the greenhouse or weeding and dead-heading raised beds are still easily managed. I’m going to need to engage the help of someone to move heavy pots around but I’m able to achieve some of the tasks needed, which would not have been at all possible without this amazing piece of kit!

 

So, if you are mulling over acquiring one, for my money, it’s worth every penny!

 

 

 

 

 

If interested, you can see more of Geoff’s garden at www.driftwoodbysea.co.uk

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