LONDONDERRY, N.H. (WHDH) - A New Hampshire veteran has been gifted some high-tech help in the form of an electric wheelchair that can climb stairs.
Mike Moran, a 20 year veteran of the Air Force, has been helping to test the wheelchair for years and thanks to a special donation, it is now his.
“It puts a little more pep in your step for lack of a better term,” he said. “It makes me want to go out and engage again.”
In 2006, Moran was shot and partially paralyzed. He was medically retired months later.
“I walked into the wrong person’s yard and unfortunately I didn’t walk out of it,” he said.
More than 15 years later, a donation from a local veteran’s program shifted Moran’s life into an entirely new gear.
“I’m 4 foot, 6 now in my chair or 4 foot, 3 now I’m in the iBot now I’m 6 foot,” he said. I can see everything. It’s different.”
The iBot power chair allows Moran to use “balance mode” which brings him to eye level with everyone else. According to him, it’s a life-altering change for someone who’s been in a manual chair for years.
“Self-esteem. Believe it or not, because I’m able to be eye to eye with somebody to have a conversation,” he said.
With his new all-terrain treads, Moran will be able to get all the way from his van to the ski lift by himself to see the slopes from new heights.
“It kind of brings back that person I was before,” he said. “Kinda see life again from this height.”
Four more local veterans are next in line to get an iBot wheelchair.
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