UF student journalist receives advanced standing wheelchair

Drew Dees is enhancing his interviews now that he can see his sources at eye level. 

The 24-year-old UF telecommunication junior was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and has used a wheelchair his entire life. Two weeks ago, he upgraded to a Permobil F5 Corpus VS power wheelchair, which allows him to do anything a person in a standing position can.

Dees said he wanted a standing chair because of how it would improve his experiences in both everyday life and as a reporter. Before the chair, people would often crouch and talk down to him while he was reporting on news stories. 

He said the chair will allow him to do demonstrative stand-ups, allowing him to be more interactive as a news journalist. He said that along with helping him further his career, the chair has boosted his confidence.

“Being able to be on eye level with people, being able to stand up for photos…it’s just been a game-changer,” he said.

The chair can be completely controlled with a joystick and can change from a sitting to a standing position at the push of a button, Dees said. It has pieces below his knees and across his chest to keep balance.

Dees said his first time standing in the chair was nerve-racking because he didn’t know if it would support him. He is still getting used to the change but said he has started to love it. 

Dees said he used the chair’s standing feature for the first time in a speech to UF alumni and administration. He said he is humbled and blessed to be able to continue his mission to use his disability as a platform to reach other people and said he is happy to know that the technology is available for those who may not be able to stand.

“It’s not about me,” Dees said. “It’s about the future generation of people with disabilities.”

He first learned about the standing chair back in October from Custom Mobility, the wheelchair company he got his previous chairs from and has been in contact with since he was only two days old, he said. He was fitted for the chair in early December and acquiring it was a three-month long process.

Gaetano Mandala, territory sales manager at the chair’s manufacturer Permobil, said Dees’ chair costs from $55,000 to $65,000 which can be reduced depending on insurance and available Medicare reimbursement that pays for the basic parts of the chair.

Dees said his chair was paid for by his insurance, and he requested it twice for it to finally be approved.

Mandala said the standing wheelchair was first developed about 30 years ago to give people the ability to access daily living activities when they were otherwise unable to. He said the chair has aided those in professional fields like teaching and surgery, enabling those with disabilities to be independent and part of the community.

Dees’s chair is unique because it can be programmed depending on a specific person’s ability to stand to specially accommodate them with technology called smart actuators, Mandala said. He said it is the only chair in the industry with this capability.

The chair also offers the medical benefits of standing such as reducing bone thinning by allowing normal bone and joint development, assisting with digestion and respiration, reducing depression and lowering injury risk for overhead reaching, Mandala said.

Mandala said Permobil is the oldest power chair company in the world and their chairs are known for their durability, being able to last 10-20 years.

“It’s always the patient first,” he said. “We don’t build chairs for codes. We build chairs for people within those codes.”

Dees first used the chair's standing feature in a speech to UF alumni and administration