Although the accident made him paraplegic, he did not let it stop him from living a normal life.
And he wanted to use his experience to help others with their journey.
About four years ago, Mr Hanley began working at Melrose, a company which sells custom-made lifestyle, specialist and sports wheelchairs, and yesterday he was delivering his sales pitch for equipment at the Show Your Ability expo in Dunedin.
The annual expo at the Edgar Centre showed innovative equipment for people with disabilities from about 50 companies, including Melrose.
‘‘We have customers for life ... I end up talking to them about everything but wheelchairs,’’ Mr Hanley said.
With his own life experience to draw on, he could give people first-hand reports on how equipment improved his own mobility.
‘‘Ageing in a wheelchair comes with its own problems ... strain on shoulders is very common,’’ he said.
‘‘Electronic features allow you to keep going.’’
Power attachments meant he could play with his children and go where he needed to go even when he was exhausted.
But the cost was not cheap.
A wheelchair cost between $10,000 and $15,000 and an electronic add-on to make the wheelchair more mobile cost between $7,000 and $12,000.
ACC and Ministry of Health funding usually helped to cover part of the costs, Mr Hanley said.
