Oliver – Shower Commode

Oliver is a 14 year-old young man with a cervical spinal cord injury, resulting in paraplegia, lung disease, neurogenic bowel and bladder, and scoliosis, under the care of many medical teams at RCH. Despite his many health challenges, Oliver is a resilient young man, who makes the most of every opportunity that comes his way.

Oliver drives his own manual wheelchair and completes slide transfers with little help. He would like to be independent with his toileting regimes and showering, however does not have access to a suitable chair to allow for this.

Currently, Oliver is lifted from his wheelchair to the shower floor because he does not have a supportive shower chair upon which to sit and wash himself. He is currently dependent on his mother for his toileting practices.  Oliver is now old enough and willing to become independent with these toileting practices, but does not have a supportive nor customised toilet chair to allow for this. Oliver has trialled a mobile shower/toilet chair and he could self-propel the chair in and out of the shower and on and off the toilet independently.

Oliver’s parents recently spent a large portion of their savings to modify their bathroom to make it accessible for Oliver. Purchasing this customised shower/toilet chair is not possible at this time, and there is currently an 11-12 month waiting list for State-wide Equipment Program (SWEP) funding.

The MAD Foundation was able to purchase this chair for Oliver. We look forward to hearing how this has helped Oliver’s confidence and independence.

This is wonderful news! Thank you to you and the MAD Foundation. I informed Oliver’s mother and she was over the moon!