For most people, the Segway Personal Transporter (PT) is probably the best mobility device yet invented. A big claim indeed. If a person can stand and take a single step up then they can almost certainly use a Segway PT to get around.

And not enough people realise this.

Yet more than a thousand Kiwis use a Segway PT or an Omeo self-balancing wheelchair every day to get around. New Zealand might even have the highest percentage of Segway PT mobility users in the world.

Since 2004 the Segway PT has been helping Kiwis keep up, engage in, and generally enjoy life that little bit more. The Segway PT is quick, agile, stable and safe. It has a small footprint (no wider than an average adult's shoulders), it's portable, and comfortable to ride thanks to large diameter wheels. It is also incredibly capable, both on sealed surfaces and on off-road terrain such as clay, gravel, sand and even snow.

Here's a list of more than 100 mobility-impaired New Zealanders who've owned Segway PTs, grouped by condition, with helpful and illuminating descriptions of how they use their PT and how it has transformed their lives.

Conditions include:

• Spinal: injury, incomplete paraplegia, complete paraplegia
• Leg: injury or congenital condition
• Leg: amputee
• Heart Disease, Lung Disease, Emphysema
• Post-Polio
• Reduced mobility due to age-related conditions, arthritus and scoliosis
• Stroke
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's Disease
• Cerebral Palsy (CP)
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Other peripheral ataxia conditions and Other disabilities

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