Monday, July 27, 2015

Smooth Sailing

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1840754059/help-john-start-quadshox

I myself have spent limited periods of time in a wheelchair. Needless to say none of my 'rides' were a comfortable experiences and after a bumpy and painful ride through hospital hallways, down elevators where every single lurch of the mechanisms was felt in both body and torn and repaired skin I can easily say that I'd rather have crawled were that an option.

But, I'm fortunate. I am able to leap up out of those metallic and mobile makers. Many are not.

John Morris and Arianna Kilmer. John is the man and 
mind behind Quadshox - a retrofit-suspension kit for 
manual wheelchairs. 
With the nature of my job, the collective bunch of friends that I have, I've had the genuine pleasure of knowing several individuals who are wheelchair bound for one reason or another - never by choice.

Our environment isn't built for wheelchairs. We try; we make things 'accessible' yet we also need to accommodate the forces of nature's expansions and contractions. Expansion joints and the weathered surfaces we walk on is rarely in the forefront of our minds as our knees, hips and spine allow us to traverse without concern.

That isn't the case for someone like John, who is wheelchair bound as the result of an accident. And it isn't the case for someone who cannot afford the Cadillac of cushioning on their chair - their connection to the world.

 John, with the help of a very dedicated group of people have designed a simple, yet highly effective solution that brings relief to those who have not known of anything other than the rough and tumble of what looks like a smooth walkway, but in reality is a jarring reminder of how painful even a short stroll can be.

Take a few minutes, kind reader, and learn about this project. It's in the last few days of fundraising.

John and crew have gone the extra mile; they've shared their project with everyone who will listen, they've beaten the pavement, talked the talk. They haven't just posted a campaign and waited to see what happened.

People think it's a good & noble cause, but it's being left to 'someone else' to help fund it.

Be that someone else! We never know what our future looks like. You never know when illness or an injury is going to change your life dramatically. Be part of what makes it a little easier for someone else, perhaps even your future self.

And yes, I skipped some coffees and backed this project because it's about something more than getting a cool product - as so many Kickstarter campaigns are. It's about helping others... Now it's your turn.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1840754059/help-john-start-quadshox





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