Dad Hacks Power Wheelchair So His Little Boy Can See The World

This is your feel good story of the day, and it will make you appreciate your life and health. It’s about a 2-year-old little boy named Alejandro who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. It’s a degenerative neuromuscular disorder that makes it very hard for him to move. Since he’s on a 5 year waiting list to receive a power wheelchair, he has to spend most of his time indoors. His father (Shea) didn’t want to accept that life for his son, so he created a custom wheelchair just for Alejandro.

First, he bought a standard adult-size power wheelchair off eBay for $800. Then he went to work to mod the whole thing for his son. He completely reworked how the wheelchair is controlled so Alejandro would be able to scoot around all by himself.

Since Alejandro is able to move his toes better than his fingers, his dad created foot pedals, which you can see in the pictures below. He even used parts from the scale in their kitchen for his special hack. You can see Alejandro learning how to use his new power wheelchair in the video below. What a heartwarming moment it must have been for everyone in that family when they saw that this little boy would be able to explore the world independently like every toddler wants to do.

According to Cnet, “Shea’s hacking, engineering, and programming skills all came into play for the wheelchair project. It’s a testament to a family’s love, a child’s determination, and a maker attitude coming together to make life roll along just a little more smoothly than it did before.” I hope you click over to the dad’s original blog post called Powerchair to read their story firsthand and see exactly how he built this. What an extraordinary family with a lot of love. Hugs to you Alejandro!