| In a week or so George
Drew will clock out of his office at Auckland’s
Rehab Servicing for the very last time.
This big hearted guy, who always has a
good natured quip to brighten up everyone’s
day, has served the disability community
for 23 years. No matter what time of the
day or night George and his crew, with
the support of Accessable services, would
respond to wheelchair repair emergences
with a “can do” attitude.
That same attitude was carried over to
normal working hours, at the workshop,
where nobody with a wheelchair problem
was turned away. The client was always
listened to and the problem was fixed
ASAP.
George’s memories do not quite
extend back to the cane wheelchair days
but he does remember the times when the
Thompson and Betstone brands ruled the
roost. Those were the days when the wheelchairs
had no brakes and parking sideways on
a hill was highly recommended. The
disadvantage of having no brakes was compensated
by slamming the joy stick in reverse,
which on the odd occasion burnt the motors
out. As every bruised wheelchair user
knows sitting in an uncontrollable chair,
with burnt out motors, is not a good situation
to be in. |
"George
reflects on farewell wishes" |
|
“It’s
vastly different now,” said George.
“There are plenty of motorised wheelchair
options to choose from, all with programmed
control boxes which are basically on-board
computers. These control boxes even have
the ability to log faults.”
At the beginning George was employed
as a driver/deliverer but soon his knowledge
of electronics was put to good use and
he started his career at Carrington, as
a wheelchair technician. |
| Due to poor health he
feels the need to slow down and so he
is looking forward, in his retirement,
to tinkering under the bonnet of his beloved
vintage cars, which he has spread around
his property.
Hopefully George, you will find the time
to tap into the disability world every
now and then. Your immense knowledge gathered
over two decades is universally recognised
and valued.
And you are definitely one of the good
guys
Ross Flood |
 "George
checking out the Reviewl" |
