Eva Eikhout

Eva Eikhout has very short legs. How short? Very short! Maatwerk made a PHAT chair for her, with a ladder on it.

'On the right-hand side there is a ladder with two steps and on the left is the armrest. So when I climb in, with my right arm I lean on the table, with my left I hold that armrest tight and then all in one go, I'm sitting in it.' You can hear Eva (10) beaming as she talks. It has become a piece of cake: climbing in her chair. She explains: 'I would never fit in the standard school chairs, they only come in three sizes. And well, my upper body has continued to grow but my legs haven't. They are very short. How short? Hey... mum, how short are my legs? Answer: very short!'

Eva attends a regular primary school and is the only one to have a special chair. 'I found it very distinctive, especially the ladder', she says. 'And the rest of the children have now got used to it, but in the beginning they thought it was phat, because it can be wheeled. There are wheels on it and they don't have that of course. We play with it sometimes, if I have to go to another table, I push it myself, but sometimes someone else does as well. They enjoy that.'

'Clever of Maatwerk', thinks Eva's mother. 'She has had the chair since 2000 and it still fits her. Something was changed on the back support once and that was it.'