SCI Life: July 2014


Here Comes the Trike King
Bryan KingBryan King, 37, a T3-4 paraplegic from Imperial, Calif., was always the cool guy long before he ruled the roads on his custom trike. During his senior year of high school, King was drafted by the Houston Astros as a pitcher.

But his pro career was cut short from a bone spur in his shoulder. “I was pitching really well … until the last month-and-a-half of the season. During one of my starts in the fourth or fifth inning, I threw a pitch and I felt a pop. Right away I knew something wasn’t right,” he says.

“I braced up for another pitch and tried to throw a fastball. Well, I could only throw about 60 mph and that was throwing with all I could. It hurt like hell, my eyes teared up and I knew my career was over.”

Bryan-King-motorcycleWith his high school sweetheart expecting, life had to move on, but a car accident in February 2001 derailed his dream of becoming a highway patrol officer, and he was now a para at 24. He returned to work within months, though, and married his girlfriend the following year. The two had their son — and full circle — years later King became a baseball coach for his son’s team.

He also went on to try riding motorcycles post-injury, and in 2006 he was one of four winners on the TV show American Choppers to receive a FANtasy bike — the Vertebrae — the show’s first trike, outfitted with hand controls, a button shifter, an easier-to-use clutch and front and back brakes on the handlebars.

“I love it,” he says about riding. “Every time I get on, all my thoughts disappear and I simply just take in everything as I drive. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Sparkly Clean Wheels
The-ScrubberTracking in mud after a rainstorm no longer needs to be a common affair, and no, we’re not talking about the usual hand-washing solution. We’re talking about the Scrubber, an automated wheelchair tire scrubber created by Inn2care, a mobility product company based in the Netherlands. This brilliant invention, made of stainless steel and intended exclusively for outdoor use, turns on automatically when you roll onto the Scrubber’s conveyor belt, which activates multiple top and side brushes and two spray nozzles for water after being connected to a garden hose.

The water pressure used on the Scrubber can also be customized, as can the brushes, and it has a nice safety feature — it uses no electricity — with the weight of the wheelchair activating the machine instead. The cost for the Scrubber — a cool $247.

Check it out: software.inn2care.com/

Paddling Up a River
With summer in full swing, now is a good time to try out canoeing as an adapted sport. Try contacting Creating Ability, maker of hand adaptations for canoeing, one of the best adaptive paddling gear companies out there. They make adapted paddles for low quads and one-arm paddlers, as well as custom seating and canoes.

Go to: www.creatingability.com


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