“I didn't want a stairlift” The words Kitty Dane, 79, remembers telling the family numerous times over the years as they constantly reminded her it was that time to purchase a stairlift.

Having several operations on her feet and her husband Geoff losing his sight in his left eye. Making their own way up and down the stairs using their modified versions, became daily routine. After all it was only to get up to bed and down again in the mornings?

They had both developed their own ways of manoeuvring around their home and often found themselves short of energy and full of anxiety. Avoiding unnecessary trips upstairs, they still echoed, we do not need a Stairlift.

Geoff and Kitty often discussed their options; “How about moving their bedroom downstairs, do we really need to go upstairs?”, “what about moving to a bungalow”. But after being in their home for over 25 years the reality of them leaving their memories was emotionally to hard. However, their "pride" of having a Stair Lift was still not on their agenda.

Just before Christmas Kitty & Geoff had got up early hours in the morning. Geoff ahead of Kitty had already reached the bottom of the staircase and as he looked up he saw Kitty falling top to bottom. Unable to help her, they both landed crashing into their hallway glass unit.

Thankfully with no serious injuries, this time, they both agreed to the idea of considering having a Stairlift. With the help of Kitty’s son Michael and Granddaughter Carly, they came across Higher Elevation Ltd on CheckaTrade and started looking at their reviews. Already having some background knowledge as a community carer, Carly checked through the accreditation and decided to give us a call.

Granddaughter Carly:

Carly remembers; It was such a relief when Nan finally agreed to have a surveyor around. When I contacted Higher Elevation, I explained the reasons for our call and how they were both against the idea of a Chair Lift in their home. When the surveyor arrived, he cracked a joke with Nan which instantly broke the ice and set the tone for the whole appointment.

Son Michael:

“Having a friendly, ex-stairlift engineer attend my mother’s home for a quotation instead of the usual Salesman gave me, Mum & Geoff great comfort” Michael says. “The surveyor listened to their concerns and empathised with both their feelings. He measured the staircase, assessed both Mum & Geoff with their mobility and gave us his recommendations. Being just a few days before Christmas we were very shocked to receive a verbal quotation the same day from the office and then the written quotation was in the next day's post. We proceeded and had the lift installed in between Christmas and the New Year!”

Kitty and Geoff are now freely roaming their home as they had done so many years before. They were able to save their energy for more fun times instead of for the battle of the stairs!