My wife’s grandfather is 96. He’s trying to make it to his 97th birthday, but it’s not looking good.
He had a stroke a couple of months back. Not a big one, but enough to send him to rehab in the hospital for 2 weeks, and then almost 3 in a nursing home.
He’s back at home now, but things have gone way downhill since before the stroke.
This is a guy who was driving his own car 2 months ago. Now he hardly gets out of his chair. And he needs a walker just to get around the house.
He used to spend a lot of time in his reclining chair.
But it quickly became a prison. He just doesn’t have the strength or coordination to get up out of it.
I was going to buy him a spring-loaded lift assist seat like the one I reviewed years ago on this site, but that design is really meant for casual sitting. Like in a kitchen chair. It’s not meant for all-day comfort.
And this guy spends all his day in his lounger chair, so he needs all-day comfort.
I thought recliner lift chairs were too expensive. I guess the last time I looked, I was looking at the ones that cost $1700.
Luckily my sister in law was smart enough to look around on Craigslist. She found one for $600, bought it, and moved it into the house.
Grandpa has been living in it ever since.
He doesn’t get up much. Maybe once a day to go use the bathroom and when he’s ready to get into bed. But when he needs to get up, he can do it on his own. The chair lifts him right up. His walker is right there. He’s standing with no effort, and ready to roll off to wherever he needs to be.
I was pretty thrilled at the deal they got on Craigslist. Then I thought to check Amazon for the lift recliner chairs.
My jaw kind of dropped.
You can get a brand new chair, delivered overnight (if you’re a Prime member) for less than what we paid for a used one.
Here’s the one you can get through Prime:
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Here’s another power lift recliner:
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And one more:
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Of course, you can also decide to spend real money on your purchase. You probably get better construction and a few more features, like maybe fabric that zips off for easy cleaning.
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No matter which you choose, a lift chair that reclines is a great way to dramatically increase the quality of life for someone who has trouble standing on their own. And since there seems to be a good resale market, you shouldn’t let cost stand in your way.
