Testimonial Geert Schipper – Vicair Active O2 6 cm & Vicair Custom Made

“Having a busy life full of activities and sports, I wasn’t always careful with my wheelchair cushion…”

My name is Geert Schipper. I consider myself to be ‘forever 27’ and am a Pro Triathlon athlete for the Dutch Triathlon Association. I have been a wheelchair user since August 8, 2004 so I now have over 16 years of wheelchair experience. A serious accident with a delta airplane caused me to break my back, with an incomplete spinal cord injury from L2 as a consequence. I can still manage to stand a little bit and with an orthosis I have a very limited walking function.

The first years in a wheelchair I sat on a ROHO wheelchair cushion. Having a busy life full of activities and sports, I was not always careful with it. The cushion was flat regularly. I also found the cushion quite unstable, even though I have a good trunk stability. As an in-between solution I sat on a lot of foam cushions and a Jay wheelchair cushion. During my activities I also regularly had a sweaty butt.

“The sweaty butt is a thing of the past, the cushion is stable and much lighter than my old wheelchair cushions”

A good friend of mine, who also happens to work for Vicair, called me one day to ask if I had ever sat on a Vicair wheelchair cushion. I answered that question with a “no”, after that it didn’t take me long to make an appointment at Vicair. After the appointment I rolled out of the Vicair office on a Vicair Active O2 6cm wheelchair cushion to try it out at home. The problem with my sweaty butt was immediately resolved, even on seriously hot days. The cushion is also very stable and, above all, it is much lighter than my old wheelchair cushions. It makes the transfer from my wheelchair to my bus a lot easier. I have one hand to hold onto my bus and with the other I can swing my wheelchair, with the cushion still in the chair, through the sliding door into the space behind the driver’s seat.

“I have several ADL chairs, all with a Vicair Active O2 wheelchair cushion in them. I am a happy man!”

One of Vicair’s product specialists, Michel Miltenburg, comes to watch me train every now and then. Now my wheeler, a race wheelchair, is also fitted with a Vicair Custom Made wheelchair cushion to give me more comfort during races. During training sessions, the sweat sometimes runs from my head, but my seat remains almost completely dry.

I have several ADL chairs, all with a Vicair Active O2 cushion in them. I am a happy man!

– Geert Schipper

-> You can read more about Geert’s sport activities as a pro triathlon athlete here!