Thanks to a TGA mobility scooter, Roy Dyer, 53 from Landkey near Barnstable, has been able to continue with his two passions in life despite disability – dog walking and scrap metal sculpting.
Roy Dyer has two very different passions in retirement – walking his dogs and sculpting from scrap metal. Both outdoors, and both vital for his mental health. Having to give up work because of severe asthma and spinal disease is not something anyone wants to do in their mid-40s. But it happened to ex-welder Roy. Now at 53, he’s still keen to get out there and make the most of life. ‘I can’t walk but I still want to show the world I can achieve something so I sculp from scrap metal’ says Roy. And being able to walk his four-legged friends Scooby and King Bob the Pug, he has the best of both world, all on a TGA Vita E.
For a long time, a TGA Supersport had got Roy where he wanted to go. Around the Lake District, Exmoor, Dartmoor, rugged rocky places where he pushed his scooter to the limit. Fast forward many years and with the Supersport retired, Roy needed another TGA to keep him going, at a more sedate pace. Power and performance were still top of his wishlist though as rural Barnstable is a very hilly place. So, Anna from TGA visited, assessed and recommended a Vita – Roy was smitten from the start.
Roy’s now out again and he loves it. Walking the dogs with his wife, collecting scrap metal or simply going to the doctors, every journey is a joy: “My cool scooter means the world to me, it really does. It’s the most comfortable one I’ve ever sat on, honest to God. We wouldn’t be able to walk the dogs without it. Before Sarah was having to go out on her own and walk one dog at a time as King Bob would either drag his heels or pull like mad. Now he rides on the footplate and Scooby walks on a lead next to my scooter. It’s a lovely walk around Landkey, we do about four to five miles a day. It would be so horrible to go back to not being able to go out again, I really wouldn’t know what I would do.”
Roy’s scooter is coming in handy with his artwork too: “If someone has a bit of scrap I can go and pick it up instead of taking the car. I’ve made loads of stuff from old bicycles people have given me. I’ve nearly finished a full-size horse sculpture make out of 200 horseshoes and roofing sheets. It’ll need delivering soon to the customer who commissioned it so I’ll probably tow it there with my Vita! The local arts festival has even asked me to display my work this summer. Funny really as I think I’m just fiddling around in the shed and now my sculptures will be alongside professional artists.”
When asked what it feels like when out driving his scooter Roy adds: “I’m king of the road. Even though I’m fairly young, I don’t think about being on a mobility scooter. The looks are so modern I don’t feel embarrassed to be driving it. I’ve never had a scooter so good as this Vita E. My Vita snuggles me in and is better than my rise and recliner chair at home. If I could get it in the living room I would sit in it!”
Roy wraps up by talking about his well-being. His scooter has really saved the day: “To be frank, if I didn’t have a mobility scooter I think I would be 30st or dead as fresh air has always been so important to me as I’ve worked outside all my life. Once you’re stuck at home, you get stuck in a hole that’s very hard to get out of. There is nothing better for your mental health than being out in the fresh air. I think without scooters a lot of people would be worse off. Scooters are literally lifesavers.”
