• Meet Our Photo Competition Winner Seb

    • By Lydia Lucas
    • August 5, 2024
  • A Young Mover's Journey to Recovery with StrideOn
     
    At StrideOn, we take great pride in celebrating the resilience and determination of our users through their recovery journeys. Each year, our photo competition highlights these inspiring stories.
    For this competition we are excited to announce Seb as the winner of our latest contest. His photographs and story perfectly expresses the freedom and joy that our knee walkers can bring to the recovery process.
     
    Introducing Our Winner: Seb
    Seb, a fun and active 12-year-old from Dorset, faced significant challenges after sustaining a nasty ankle fracture. Confined initially by his injury, Seb found the transition from an active lifestyle to sudden immobility particularly tough. However, the support of a StrideOn knee walker turned his recovery into an adventure, bringing back his usual zest for life.
     
    Jim the Judge said,
     
    “What a tough photo competition it was to judge this time around.
     
    One of our best subscribed to, yet! Shortlisting was a real mix of ideas and subjects.
    Here are a few examples of how it was so competitive…..We had StrideOn meets the Beatles, An Orthomate crab fishing on a pier, a StrideOn basket loaded with cleaning products keeping up with the housework, an Orthomate showing how to barbecue while non-weight bearing, a fantastic StrideOn at a plant sale-fundraising that also came with a groovy video and a poem to explain the whole drama, bright colours of the fair with an Orthomate and, another Orthomate enjoying the Radio 1 Big Weekend festival. There were more of course but I need to stop here as I think that gives you enough of a taste of the challenge of choosing. Discussions were had, votes were cast and a decision made, without any grumbles. Congratulations to Seb and well done to all of you. In particular the three that were joint 2nd place… sorry, no silver medals in this event. Keep Striding-On…”
     
     
    The Journey to Recovery
    The road to recovery can often feel daunting, especially for someone as young and energetic as Seb. The StrideOn knee walker was a game-changer for him. It provided the necessary support to move around and still continue with activities that were crucial for his physical and mental well-being.
     
    Seb used his knee walker to explore various scenic locations around Dorset, including:
     
    Abbotsbury Gardens
    Rodwell Trail in Weymouth
    West Bay beach's disabled access area
    Abbotsbury beach
     
    These outings allowed him to maintain an element of physical activity and enjoy family walks, crucial for a young boy during the school holidays.
     
    Jim, StrideOn Manager, said,
    “We are so pleased to announce that Seb’s pictures have been selected as our winner for the photo competition.  A huge congratulations to Seb and his choice of photos and for his Mum’s detailed write up. There was some very tough competition and it was the positive look that he portrayed along with some stunning backgrounds and of course full portraits of our Orthomate Knee Scooter that won the most votes. Congratulations Seb.”
     
    Anne-Claire, Seb’s Mum, shared her thoughts, "The knee walker was fantastic! He went from very grumpy indeed to a happy boy again and able to enjoy the school holidays - thank you!”
     
    When told about Seb being the winner, Anne-Claire responded,
    “The money will make a massive difference this school summer holiday to Seb - he missed out on all the fun school trips in the summer term due to his broken ankle, so now it is much better he plans to use the prize money to fund some fun activities over the summer - a surf lesson and some dingy sailing are high up on the wish list he was dreaming up last night.  You have made him extremely happy!
     
    The knee walker made such a huge difference to his fracture recovery, enabling him to get out and about.  I think he would have gone mad without it if just constrained to crutches!”
     
    Looking Forward
    We are incredibly proud to support young individuals like Seb through our products. His story is a great reminder of the positive impact that the right mobility aid can have during recovery. We are inspired by his attitude and are thrilled to have played a part in his journey.
     
    Keep an eye on our socials as we continue to share these remarkable stories and other entries.