When Pam de Jersey’s grandson planned to get married on Herm her family wanted to make sure that being a wheelchair user wouldn’t stop her from being part of the big day.

Pam and her daughter visited the St John HealthCare shop and arranged to hire a beach wheelchair. After a quick demonstration, they took the wheelchair to Herm on the Travel Trident ferry and Pam was able to travel from the harbour to Shell Beach and back to the White House for the ceremony and celebrations.

“It was the perfect day.” said Pam. “The wheelchair was really good and very comfortable. The transfer from my chair to the beech chair was OK and it seem easy for the people who were pushing me. I would certainly recommend it”.

Pam used to visit Herm, but has not been able to go since becoming a wheelchair user eight years ago. “It was quite emotional.” she said, “I was quite nervous but it went really well. I was able to get down onto Shell Beach with help from some of the guests at the wedding and the staff from Trident helped me get on and off the ferry too.”

The beach wheelchair is fitted with large tyres to make it easier to travel over sand and uneven ground. It is available for hire from St John HealthCare at the Rohais. The shop is open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-1pm. St John can also supply a range of other wheelchairs for short-term hire or longer term rental. For more information call 01481 729268.

It is hoped that subject to the relevant permissions a beach wheelchair will also be available for hire on a semi-permanent basis at Pembroke Bay in Guernsey during the summer of 2019.