Scooter Enables Disabled Veteran to Pay Respect to Nephew
An ex-soldier was able to join the Remembrance Parade in London to pay respects to his recently killed nephew, thanks to family-run mobility company TGA.
Disabled Ernie Taylor from Hackney, was injured back in 1973 by a milk churn bomb while serving with 2nd Battalion Rifles in Northern Ireland, and has been disabled by stroke and shell shock. Earlier this year, his nephew Steven Campbell, who had joined the same regiment, was killed while serving in Afghanistan.
Although he had not left his home for more than a year, Ernie was determined to take part in the march past the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. Hearing of his story, TGA were equally determined to provide a suitable mobility scooter to enable Ernie to pay his respects to his nephew and others killed while on duty.
TGA Sales Director Tim Ross explained: “As a business, TGA supports the needs of many ex-Service men through the supply of mobility products. When we heard about Ernie’s situation with only a few days before Remembrance Sunday, all the TGA employees involved with scooter provision knew they had to pull out all the stops.
“With any purchase, there is always an extensive amount of product preparation and paperwork to resolve before the scooter can be personally delivered to a customer’s doorstep,” he added. “However we were delighted in how quickly it all came together for Ernie. As he used the Higher Rate Mobility Component of his Disability Living Allowance to purchase the Breeze 4 through Motability, we also had to liaise with this organisation to ensure the Breeze 4 was delivered in time. All the representatives at Motability could not have been more helpful and efficient in processing Ernie’s acquisition.”
Following the sad lost of Steven and being promised support from his regiment, Ernie is now planning a charity fundraising ‘walk’ on his TGA Breeze 4 from John O’Groats to Land’s End next year to raise funds for the military charity Care for Casualties.