So you all know I use a wheelchair. But what does that actually mean?

Well I use a TiLite Zra. Means nothing to you right? Well it does to me. Wheelchairs come in many shapes and sizes.

I have had this chair for six years. It has been around the world, over a lot of cobbles and jumps up and down kerbs many times a day.

It gets a good old beating and I think it’s time to say goodbye and upgrade.

When I tell my friends I’m upgrading they say ‘ooh shiny new wheelchair on the NHS – woohoo!’ or some variation of that.

I have to tell them that sadly that’s not the case. Don’t get me wrong, I love the NHS. It saved my life, and keeps me healthy. I wish every country had an NHS, but the resources are limited.

When I was first injured I was offered an NHS chair – an ‘active user’ chair; aka all the activities I speak about above.

But when you have to move yourself using your arms, it’s not just your own body weight you have to move, it’s the chair too.

My current chair weights 14kg – that’s pretty light. My NHS one was significantly heavier.

I recall really struggling to move it and myself. In fact it made me more sedentary, as the effort to move it was too high or it was easier to drive than push.

I guess it’s a bit like NHS specs or having a car without power steering.

They work but they look awful, except in this situation it works less well and looks awful.

I realise that I am lucky that I have the financial resources to buy my own chair and can choose the ‘Ferrari’ of wheelchairs, and I am also lucky that the NHS contributes via a voucher scheme.

Other less fortunate will have to cope with the clunky heavy chair and that saddens me.

It is important to me that my wheelchair not only performs well but looks nice.

It is attached to me for 14 hours a day. I would like it to it be stylish, like a nice outfit, but subtle too so that my clothes can be my expression.

I guess it’s like a good staple that can be accessorised. People’s focus should be me, not my chair, hence why I choose a sleek titanium and black design.

So how much will this new chair cost? You are probably thinking a couple of hundred quid. Think again, or just add a zero to it.

It will be nearly £3,000. I believe the NHS will give me about £700 in contribution, which certainly helps but still leaves me with £2,000 to find.

If I was to talk about the costs of being disabled out of any context you might think it would more physical or psychological costs, but while they exist there is also a substantial financial cost too.