Being part bionic man can throw interesting dilemmas your way.

Clearly in order to move I need my wheelchair.

Think about the mobility aids you use (car, train, taxi, bike).

I guess you could compare it to a car. If your car wing mirror falls off you can cope by looking over your shoulder, or if the chain falls off your bike you can walk with it until it gets repaired.

The problem is for me when my wheelchair breaks my alternatives are next to nothing.

I’m pretty much stranded.

Last week my wheel rim (the metal circle I use to push) sheared off, leaving sharp shards of sharp metal as my alternative, I simply could not push as my hands would be torn open and, as they’re one of the only bits of my limbs that work I want to keep them in good nick.

Luckily I was with my folks who pushed me home where I had a spare old battered one which we managed to use as a replacement.

Problem is that the old one is so scratched it leaves my hands covered in a fine metal dust that gets everywhere, leaving not only my hands but everything I touch black.

I’ve had to take out a mortgage to pay for enough baby wipes to keep the most basic hand hygiene standards.

Adding insult to injury, my chair comes from America, so I need to order new parts and travel to the only dealership in the UK to get replacement rims.

Clearly neither quick nor convenient.

Hence I opted for a DIY interim solution.

Off I went to Homebase to by some spray-on varnish. It’s not quite DIY as I had to draft in a friend, the whole wheel had to come off, get coated in plastic to prevent getting varnish on other unwanted parts and stay off while it dried.

The drying time was eight hours, which meant a few hours on the sofa and a crawl along the floor and hitch up to get into bed. Sophisticated as ever!

This wasn’t the end of my wheelchair woes this past week.

Oxford being Oxford, the bone shaking cobbles I ride over have loosened a few screws so much so that I lost one in my backrest.

Now the left hand side of my backrest is so wobbly it’s like a loose tooth ready to be pulled out.

The only place to get the bolt? The one dealership in the UK – and the bolt probably needs to be flown in from the USA.

I can’t get a courtesy chair in the meantime.

It’s a case of a half-day visit, time off work and a wait whilst they patch up the wear and tear. It’s just part and parcel of my life, but it’s a reminder just how dependant I am on my wheels. I guess one of the lessons learnt is don’t buy a chair from the USA despite it being the best technology.

Anyway I like to think my life is shake, rattle and roll – although perhaps it’s more like shake, rattle and toll.