The stair chair-glide that we've had for ten years has been getting progressively noiser and slower. Monday it just stopped, and I called a company to send someone out to repair it - the ones I bought it from weren't around anymore. Two young men came, fiddled with it,said it needed some new bearings, etc, and the next day their supervisor called and said he had ordered the parts and they'd be in maybe Monday. Today (Wed) it stopped mid-stair, husband aboard. He was frantic, I tried to get him off and walk down the stairs but when that wasn't working I tried to get him back ON the chair, which obligingly started moving down without him on it!
Fortunately my daughter was home. We put the gait belt on him,which had been so useful hanging onto him when he rode the golf cart on Monhegan, and between us we managed to push and pull him up the stairs and to his walker there. Which is where he's going to stay (upstairs) until the thing is fixed. I called the stair guys and they're coming out tomorrow..
I don't know what we'd have done without the gait belt - I highly recommend getting one and having it on hand "in case" of need!