For me, walking in strong winds with my walking frame is not an easy task.

Occasionally, the wind has been known to push me along at a faster speed than I would like, or I struggle to walk against it. Whenever it’s possible, I try and stick to using my wheelchair if it gets to the point where I start to find things difficult, but sometimes I have no choice but to go out with my walking frame Martha.

In cases like this, I always try and take someone with me who can help me if I get stuck, or  at the very least try to set off earlier than I need to so that I can still get to where I need to be on time, and still be able to sit and take rests, or wait for the winds to die down a bit if I need to.

The main thing I worry about if these kinds of conditions are falling over and not being able to pick myself back up again.

I remember an occasion once where I had no choice but to go out on my walking frame when I thought it was quite windy. A lady who saw me struggling to walk in it asked me if there was anything that she could do to help, even though it looked to me like it was taking her a lot of effort to walk too.

I couldn’t think of a way that she could have given me a hand, but just the fact that she asked cheered me up a lot. I was really grateful for the offer and put me in a better mood as I carried on.

Many of you know that, given the choice, I would much rather use my walking frame Martha than use my wheelchair, because I do really enjoy walking, but I know that I have to choose the option that I feel most comfortable with on the day. When it’s really windy, I usually feel a lot more comfortable in my wheelchair.