Little did I know, approximately ten years ago, that the chair Bob St. Germain was designing would bring my husband so much enjoyment as well as therapeutic benefit. Through the years, Bob would come into the office and share his excitement, successes and frustrations with us. On June 30, 1994, my husband, Tony suffered what the doctors referred to as a double stroke. Tony really wasn't expected to survive. Tony was paralyzed on his right side, lost his speech, couldn't swallow and was blind. Tony did survive. He worked diligently on all his therapies and made tremendous strides. Tony did not get his speech back and he does not have use of his right arm and hand; however, he has come a long way and can now walk, very carefully, assisted only with the aid of a cane.
 

Tony came home in August (1996) after two years.

One day I happened to mention, (to Bob), the difficulty Tony was having getting up from a chair because after putting all of his weight on the left side in order to raise himself off the seat, he would throw himself off balance. Well, didn't Bob go home and make some modifications to his chair and brought one over for Tony to use. Well, let me tell you, Tony loves the chair. It is comfortable, he feels safe and secure in it, and best of all he can get in and out of the chair with ease and without the fear of losing his balance and tipping the chair over and hurting himself. While Tony is in the chair he is able to rock back and forth which enables him to stimulate his muscles and benefit from the exercise. The chair can be used inside, out on the deck and it even folds up nicely so that we can put it in the trunk and take it with us.

All of these features enable Tony to be somewhat independent which is what he so desperately wants to be; and, best of all, he no longer complains of pain in his affected arm. I attribute this in part to the fact that he no longer has to struggle to get up and out of the chair himself and also to the fact that I believe his body is more relaxed.

Sincerely,
Nancy P.