Quadriplegic cerebral palsy has meant teenager George Merry’s family has always struggled to make him comfortable and correctly supported to enjoy daily life and special family time.

That situation was revolutionised when George’s parents, Peter and Karen, came across the infinitely variable Grande vacuum posture support cushion.

The husband-and-wife team run a successful business specialising in photography of children with special needs. They were commissioned by the Grande’s UK supplier, AAT GB, to undertake a shoot of the disability equipment in ‘real-life’ situations.

Karen recalled: “It was great for us as parents to get to try out loads of products, some of which we had never heard of before. I do feel that this is a common issue with disability aids and products, there are so many on offer and out there to people, it is a matter of finding them that is the issue.”

As George is unable to sit unaided, Karen and Peter are always looking for ways to properly and correctly support their son so he can sit more freely without the constraint of a wheelchair. The Grande was an ideal posture cushion solution.

In essence a mattress-sized beanbag, the Grande can be infinitely adjusted and moulded into shape and quickly fixed by removal of the air inside via a pump. The process can be done by Peter and Karen, at home, whenever required. This ensures a constant, perfect fit, without pressure points.

There is no need for reassessment, the delay of a new form being ordered, or a risk of there being a minute variation in the new shape that makes it uncomfortable/unusable.

Lightweight, the Grande can be easily moved around the home to where needed.

Karen added: “We laid George flat on Grande on his plinth in his recreation room. He was extremely happy and looked very comfortable. It moulded to George’s shape beautifully. And we could then further adjust the Grande on the plinth to allow George to lay on his side comfortably.

“Many a times when George was younger, Peter or I would lift him out of his chair and prop him up on the sofa with cushions for family film time just to have him sat with us on the sofa watching a film. When the Grande was set up on the sofa, George was sat in a lovely upright position looking very comfortable and chilled indeed! More importantly, really happy.

“The Grande is a perfect way to resolve all of those issues we had in the past when wanting George to join us for movie time. We also enjoy family game nights and often sit on the floor around a board, so it would be a great way to have George join in on the floor with the action.

“I really loved the concept, set up and versatile use of the Grande, for George it would be a fantastic piece of equipment which can be used around the house in many different ways for a number of years.”