Don

As a 73‑year‑old active senior with 53 years of wheelchair use behind me, shoulder overuse and reduced mobility have made longer‑distance pushing a thing of the past. My athletic years—distance swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, and scuba diving—are well behind me now, and the days when I could propel myself for many kilometres by arm strength alone have ended. For the past several years, my access to outdoor solitude and nature was limited to wherever a vehicle could take me, usually involving multiple transfers. Having grown up on a farm, being out in nature has always been central to who I am, and losing that connection was difficult.

The Companion has changed everything. It has given me back the freedom to explore Ottawa’s over 200 km of Multi Use Pathways and reach natural spaces that were once completely unknown and inaccessible by car. It has restored not only my mobility, but the ability to experience Ottawa and its scenic landscapes in ways I thought were gone forever. It has also dramatically reduced the number of wheelchair transfers I need—now I simply stay in my chair, attach the Companion in seconds, travel wherever I want, detach it just as quickly when I arrive, and continue on in manual wheelchair mode.

In less than a year—excluding most of Ottawa’s winter—and with only about five months of active outdoor use, I’ve already logged over 400 km. Without the Companion, none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t have experienced the solo adventures, seen the scenic sights, learned the history along my Companion travelled routes, or spent full days outside with sunshine overhead and a breeze on my face. I’ve always been an explorer and a risk‑taker, and the Companion has brought that part of me back. It’s not quite the motorcycle adventurer thrill I loved before my accident in my early twenties, but for someone in his early seventies, it’s impressively close.