Badass wheelchairs

"One is based on the seat from a fighter jet, another looks like a supervillain’s throne, while a third has a working flamethrower. His latest creation is a six-wheeled all-terrain chair designed for a client who wants to be able to go into the woods.

Greathouse began work on custom chairs when his younger brother Brent was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, dying just 5 years later. He says the difference in how people behaved toward Brent once he was confined to a chair was an eye-opener. “My brother was a really smart guy, people would treat him like he’s [mentally challenged].”

“I noticed everyone treated him totally differently in a wheelchair,” says Greathouse, “So I made him a really awesome wheelchair.” Once he’d done that he found that people’s attitudes were transformed. “It changes it from, ‘Oh poor guy,’ to, ‘Oh that’s awesome. Where did you get that?’”

Comments

[wheelchairs]

When talking to a wheelchair user, address him or her directly and avoid saying offensive words like cripple or tragic. Telling someone in a wheelchair that he or she is brave can be patronizing; the topic of conversation should not be the wheelchair. Additionally, the phrase wheelchair user is more acceptable than wheelchair-bound. During conversation, sit down so you and the wheelchair user are at the same eye level; it can cause a person strain to look up for extended periods of time.

[Thomas Wright]

Yes, most people assume that, when someone is in a wheelchair, that person is automatically mentally challenged. Truth is, it's always polite to ask rather than rely on our assumptions. Greathouse surely made his brother proud. I can just imagine how awesome that wheelchair is. ;D