Customer experience Easy Sport, Easy Rider and Balance - Henk Beunk

Henk Beunk, poet of the Achterhoek (the Netherlands), ended up in hospital at the end of 2019 after a major fall with a cerebral infarction and partial high spinal cord injury. Barely able to move, he entered the rehabilitation process and in February 2020 he was allowed to practice on the Easy Sport recumbent trike from Van Raam. For the first time in 2 months he was able to kick off again and this brought a lot of results for both Henk his mind and his rehabilitation process. Positive as he is, this also resulted in his recovery; after having cycled on the Easy Sport for a while, he exchanged the bike for the Easy Rider tricycle and shortly after that even for the Balance low entry two-wheeled recumbent bike. Recently, Henk surprised Van Raam with cake and tompoucen (a traditional Dutch pastry) for the whole company and he wrote a customer experience about his recovery process.

After the fall: hospitalization and short circuit

The advantage of getting intense physical discomfort on the shortest day of the year is that it becomes a little lighter every day after that. This stimulates recovery. In my case, such a stimulus also came from the Easy Sport recumbent trike. In mid-February I was allowed to practice on the trike for the first time in the rehabilitation centre. I ended up there mid-January after a month in hospital with two severe forms of short-circuiting: a cerebral infarction and (due to the fall) a partial high spinal cord injury.

First time on the Easy Sport recumbent trike

Barely able to move, the Easy Sport proved to be a godsend. Lying down on the bike and with the steering wheel under my buttocks I could kick off again for the first time in 2 months; literally. I don't have to explain what it does for your mind and for the recovery. It was clear to me that I wanted such a tricycle after my dismissal at the rehabilitation centre. So I called Van Raam. The day after my early resignation (because of corona) I already had an appointment at Van Raam. The Easy Sport was delivered quickly (watch the video below!). What a great feeling when you can move around on your own without any risks! At the end of April my arms were ready to control the higher steering wheel of the Easy Rider tricycle.

Henk during a bike ride on the Easy Sport

Balance low step through bike Henk Beunk

Henk Beunk on the Balance low step through bike

From tricycles to two-wheelers

Thanks to these two tricycles, my rehabilitation went so well that at the beginning of July I dared to exchange the Easy Rider tricycle for a two-wheeler of the type Balance. The Balance has a super-low entry and when you stand still, you can put your feet flat on the ground. The confidence this bike gave me led me to order a traditional two-wheeler a week later. Admittedly a women's version and with electric support, but these a peanuts in a rehabilitation process from 'almost nothing' to 'a lot'.

The young one again thanks to Van Raam

In that trajectory I always said that I don't want to be the 'old one' again (I can do that later), but I want to be the 'young one': the sporty 65-year old I was on the 21th of December 2019. Thanks to the bikes of Van Raam, I've been very succesful in that. Rehabillitation literally means 'regaining value'. When I had the accident at the end of 2019, I wasn't able to move myself any longer. My economic value at that time was zero. From that moment on I only cost the society money. Fortunately, there are also things like social value and family value. These cannot be expressed in money. Just like self-esteem; my self-esteem still gets bettter day by day. This is partly due to Van Raam by thinking along, taking a big approach and offering me a bike to be able to pedal again.

Van Raam, thank you very much! - Henk Beunk

Cake and tompouces for the whole company

Henk is very grateful that his recovery is going so well, partly thanks to Van Raam's special needs bicycles, therefore Henk wanted to thank Van Raam. Recently Henk and his wife visited us in Varsseveld with cake and tompoucen for the whole company, a wonderful gesture! We certainly enjoyed it and we wish Henk a speedy recovery.

Henk Beunk with the 2motionbike

Henk his own design: the 2motionbike

We already knew that Henk is a sportive man, but he is also enterprising. He already came up with the idea in 1977, but he really made it work from 2005. The 2motionbike is a bike in which you use both arms and legs, so you train you body more actively. The breakthrough came in 2009, when Henk came up with a new idea: rotate the hands at the same time. Meanwhile the final version (version 6) is ready; a safe and nicely designed bike with 8 gears, a large gear wheel and with which you can reach high speeds by working with both foot and hand drive.

Do you want to know more about the 2motionbike? You can visit the website below (in Dutch), or click on the image of Henk with the 2motionbike to watch a video.

Website 2motionbike