Special SALE

In this INSIDER:
XSmall Alinkers - update
Gently used Alinkers for sale
Bethany, tears to travel
International contacts
Useful links

In the next INSIDER:
Your story?
Do you have questions?
Radical Generosity campaign
Alinker Family Farm

How to stay active during #COVID times

XSmall Alinkers - update

Development of new products, is a very involved and lengthy process. Funds, time, and communications across the world in foreign languages is challenging.

Further prototyping and testing is happening with the XXS (in photo) and the XS for smaller adults.

We are anticipating to have a pre-sales campaign toward the end of summer.

Announcements will follow soon.

It is hard to put out any dates now in this time, but the expectation is that we'll have 2 samples of the XS here in Canada in 3-4 months, then testing and final engineering, then final tooling during which period we will do a pre-sales campaign. Our guess is that the actual product might be available end of year, or early 2021. This covid19 time is a further challenge on timelines and commitments but we do our best.

ONLY in the USA - special sale

For sale right now!
Go online to alinker.com and get your "gently used Alinker" for USD $1495
(plus shipping and taxes as they apply in your state)

Limited numbers available now, and they sell at a first come first serve basis.
Please allow 8-10 weeks for shipping (as we are awaiting the arrival of the toolbags that will be added to these Alinkers. A toolbag consists of - Alinker backpack - spare inner rear tire - hand pump - Allen wrenches 4 and 5mm - manual - Alinker key ring).

The Alinker is designed for how we want to live, regardless of mobility. However, from time to time, people find that the Alinker isn’t for them and send it back, using the 30-day return policy we offer. Sometimes people order the wrong size and we exchange it for another size.

These ‘gently used’ Alinkers might come with minor cosmetic damages, like scratches on the body of the Alinker or a nick out of the foam handlebar. However, they undergo strict quality controls to make sure they have only sustained minor cosmetic damages and no structural damages. Please note that the warranty does not apply to these Alinkers, though we will always want you to be happy and work with you if there are issues.

Bethany: "From being in tears.....

to traveling Denver to Toronto all by myself!"

Oct 2019: "My initial journey with my new Alinker was very different than I expected. The effects of 30 years of MS; loads of difficulty walking and increased spasticity over the last year; deceased exercise due neurological limitations; and “deconditioning” and loss of muscle from said lack of exercise meant that my first Alinker steps were an incredible struggle. First step I could barely move... second I could sort of scoot forward a foot... and the last was so hard I broke into tears. Even though cameras were rolling for my much anticipated first steps I’m not ready to share the visual debacle yet. Maybe someday.

So hard. Wow... I hadn’t even considered that my first ride would turn out the way it did. The realization that my dream of taking off immediately for walk with my daughters is actually a distant goal, metaphorically as challenging as as flying to the moon, was certainly eye opening, devastating and humbling.

I sat with my raw emotions and let them seep into my body and soul. I allowed myself to feel deeply all the thoughts that ran though my mind while trying to give myself grace and be non-judgmental.

I gained clarity. I breathed in that moment and was grateful I could move off my own accord, even if only a foot.

I wiped away the tears and brought myself back to the next present moment. I thought of BE’s words about the Alinker “bringing me back to eye level” after years of being wheeled about, stared at for using hiking sticks in the city, and constantly looking for places to sit and disappear into the woodwork, and I smiled. I “stood” on the Alinker talking to my girls and looking into their concerned eyes. After much reassurance that I was okay, that Mom is not a quitter and will not stop trying (they think I’m a badass, LOL) we hugged and laughed a little. We spoke of regrouping and formulating a new plan, setting small goals and always doing the best job/work you can do. Only way to live a meaningful and purposeful life I told them, and I meant it.

So, I won’t be posting photos/videos of my first steps from several weeks ago, nor of the incrementally small goals I have already met since. But I will report that the day after the “debacle” I went for a walk of a few more feet and talked to neighbours safely seated on the Alinker for 20 minutes, that last week I went to a holiday display at a local marketplace with family friends and not once looked for a place to disappear. Today I ‘linked about two blocks and am feeling more confident. When I have met my next, more realistic goal and have cause to celebrate I will reach out to this growing Alinker family because I know you understand and I’m going to need all the empathy, love and support I can get, and give.

You are a blessing to me and my family.

Much love,
Bethany

A few months and hard work later, Bethany writes this for this newsletter:

/ɡliCH/

noun:       a sudden, usually temporary malfunction or irregularity of equipment;
               a small problem or fault that prevents something from being successful or
               working as well as it should
                               “a draft version was lost in a computer glitch” 
verb:        to suffer a sudden malfunction or irregularity
                               “her job involves troubleshooting when systems glitch”

I fixed a glitch in my life this past March and my Alinker made it possible.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a horrid disease composed of never-ending glitches of all kinds: physical and emotional, neurological and psychological. It exacts control over ones’ movement and expression, identity and perception, life and liberty, and even ones’ humanity. MS affects every cell of ones’ body.

MS glitches, whether invisible or quite obvious, perpetually disrupt systems in the bodies of those who live with the disease. It is an ever-changing and often overwhelming kaleidoscope of symptoms. MS glitches affect every aspect of life, color decisions before logical thought can be applied, and load added challenges on top of everything one does or says. Significant and happy events can be colored by pain and confusion. A short stroll on level ground can feel like running a marathon. Just getting out of bed feels like climbing Mt. Everest. MS can make one feel very, very alone.

I deal with sudden and irregular MS glitches in each present, mindful moment of my life. I’ve learned to adapt and change so much that I ought be compared more to a chameleon than a human at times. Yet, I am not my disease, I am me.

I press on despite what glitch is affecting me at any given time because, well... there is no choice lest I simply dissolve into a quiet, isolated abyss. My glitches, both things that describe me and that which I do or more often can’t do, are seen as abnormal, limiting, difficult, distracting, aggravating, time-consuming, or irritating by many able-bodied persons.

However, all my glitches (MS born or otherwise gained) are part of who I am and I try to accept and love all of them. I’m a little weird, a little out of place, a little too much to deal with I suppose, but I am also a human with the ability to contribute, strive towards goals, support others and fight for what I believe is true and right. I do make a difference.

I and all differently-abled people are so much more than their glitches. It is societies’ loss not to look to those of us who deal daily with hurdles you can only imagine for solutions to our world’s problems. Creativity, adaptability, and resilience are our constants and for that, we should be looked to for counsel. We should be treasured, not discarded, for we are very good at fixing or dealing with glitches, especially if we have the right tools.

I have a new tool, my Alinker. And as I stated above, my Alinker allowed me to fix a glitch I’d been unable to repair for years. Yes, it allowed me to overcome my difficulties walking, standing, stabilizing, and balancing which have worsened the past few years. But that is only the “superficial” glitch, I overcame something much more important - fear.

For the first time in so many years I cannot remember, I saw glimmers of me - not just me with glitches. My Alinker gave me hope. My new ride allowed me to extinguish the seeds of fear and self-doubt which had previously prevented me from even entertaining the thought of solo travel. With this internal discouragement left behind, I said yes to going on an important journey, a trip of consequence, to where I was wanted in a foreign land. I am certain that without the Alinker I would have chosen not to even attempt the trip.

Despite having not attempted a trip on my own in years, I knew I could make the journey with my Alinker and have no fear of falling, or even falling behind, so I started preparing and planning. My ingenuity, resourcefulness, intelligence, and intellect (most of which is still intact) allowed executing this business trip. With my Alinker, I knew my energy could be spent on interaction, reflection, input, and reception not expended on worrying over whether I would trip and fall or that the fog of fatigue would cloud my thinking. My Alinker made me feel whole. During my trip, I was no longer the focal point of pity or benefactor of negative judgment while in out in public. My Alinker was so cool and amazing (as many people exclaimed during my journey) that I was hardly ever asked “what’s wrong with you?” and by default I was just as cool.

My trip now successfully concluded, I can reflect on all the successes and celebrations instead of having used my precious energy keeping glitches at bay. I had forgotten what I am capable of but now have renewed faith that I am fully able, a word I didn’t think applied to me any longer. I can and will fully participate in life!

Someone recently asked me what my plans were with my new Alinker… in a word? Everything. Exciting adventures and opportunities are being revealed in my ever-widening horizons and now I, with my Alinker, I will not let them pass me by.

Bethany Taggart

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"The Alinker is a game changer!"

- Selma Blair

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