Ricky Haines can't remember the last time he was able to drive freely on the open road. But just a couple of months ago he was doing precisely that on a joyride to Araluen, using a new scooter he purchased with the help of an ACT government grant.
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Mr Haines, a Yarralumla resident, suffered a major stroke in 1998, severely impairing his movement and lifestyle.
He has been wheelchair-bound since then, and at first struggled to communicate. With steady work Mr Haines was eventually able to walk short distances and speak fluently. However transport remained one of the most difficult aspects of his life.
"How would you feel being stuck when you want to go somewhere … you've got to rely on someone to take your [wheel]chair around," Mr Haines said.
Although his wife, Isabel, has a car, it is unable to accommodate his wheelchair, meaning he was entirely dependent on her helping him into the car and transporting him when he needed to go to the shops or work. "Now I don't have to wait," Mr Haines said.
The three-wheeled scooter, manufactured specially for Mr Haines by a company in Sydney, has a sturdy platform for him to mount his wheelchair on, as well as an electric fold-up ramp for easy access.
It often provokes exclamations from impressed onlookers in the street, and it costs only $17 to fill with fuel, which, to the envy of some, lasts "probably a week".
But for Mr Haines and his family, the best part about the scooter has been his newfound independence: "if [Isabel] wants me to go to work, I don't have to go with her. I can go later on, which means I can sleep in."
At an overall cost of $20,000, purchasing the scooter and converting it for his needs was made possible with the assistance of a $10,000 Enhanced Service Offer grant, and a further $1,500 grant from Carers ACT.
Acquiring the scooter wasn't without its hiccups. Mr Haines' application for the $10,000 grant wasn't successful until the second round of offers in 2014.
And even then, the scooter needed to pass a number of vehicle tests before it was deemed roadworthy. Mr Haines admits all this waiting led him to feel a tad "impatient".
But now he has the scooter, he hasn't looked back.
The ACT government's Enhanced Service Offer program, worth $7.7 million, was designed to help people with disabilities transition to the NDIS. The program, which ended in 2014, saw grants delivered to more than 1300 Canberra people with disabilities to enable them to buy supports, services or equipment.
