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Motivating Sports Wheelchairs
Mark Zupan, the quadriplegic wheelchair rugby captain from US is the inspiration behind the “HEROes Series of Sport Wheelchairs”. His spirit shows that mobility restrictions can’t be used as an excuse for not enjoying life to the fullest. This specially designed series of wheelchairs, allows a handicapped person to indulge in sporting activities such as freshball (a kind of beach tennis), Frisbee, badminton, croquet, wheelchair volleyball and especially beach rugby; without the shortcomings of being on a chair.
HERO Zupan, HERO Daredevil and HERO Xavier are the three types of chairs in the series and each model is appropriate for specific tasks. Although I can’t confirm it at the moment, but it looks like the wheels of the chair are inflatable or feature airtubes thus making the ride smooth on all terrains.
The built of the HERO Zupan is such that it makes it easy to navigate the chair on beaches and indulge in games like Frisbee and beach volleyball.
The HERO Daredevil traverses over land and sand with ease and hence is apt for beach and parks and is built for hard sports like beach rugby. This model has been inspired by the fictional character Daredevil.
HERO Xavier takes inspiration from the Marvel Comics’ character Charles Francis Xavier (Professor X). This chair is ideal for land sports and can be used in games like basketball, tennis etc.
Designer: Jairo da Costa Junior
17 Comments »
Silenzo says
supr coewl !
Greg says
PLEASE don’t refer to people that use this equipment as handicapped. I guarantee Mark Zupan doesn’t consider himself as such.
Lamah says
Handicapped was a euphemism for crippled. Now we need a euphemism for that? And in five years’ time, that’ll become an offensive term too. All aboard the euphemism treadmill!
Jon says
Bravo Lamah. Words aren’t going to get anyone up out of a chair any more than they’re going to keep them from doing what they want from the chair.
While I appreciate the sentiment of “people first language” and similar efforts, the fact of the matter is that my disability mediates my interaction with the world and everyone in it from the moment I wake, and if you make me a “person with an amputation,” rather than an amputee, you’re not going to change anything except by making people sound really awkward when they talk.
For a great piece on the general issue of making people speak awkwardly about disability in the interest of sensitivity, check out this piece by C. Edwin Vaughan, “People-First Language:
An Unholy Crusade”(http://www.blind.net/pg000006.htm).
Some disabled people might agree with Greg. I don’t, and I don’t know Zupan, but I’d let him speak for himself.
Eyal Zaidman says
Is it already for production or just a design?
Johan says
Hm, the wheel angle is no good for sports
.. http://smallr.com/9em
Genilson says
Ola onde compro esta cadeira de roda, se posso representa ela no Brasil?
Genilson says
Ola onde compro esta cadeira de roda, se posso representa ela no Brasil?
Joe says
does anyone know where I can buy these?
Joe says
does anyone know where I can buy these?
alex says
hello, where i can buy the wheelchair heroes xavier?
thanks
Wallace Daniel says
Are these available to the public? If not, why not?
If their not in production I would be interested in having the Zupan inspired chair produced by an independant fabricator in Georgia (USA) Called Eagle Sports.
Stan Upchurch says
If these chairs came in cammo I would be interested. I run across places like pastures, wooded trails with logs, etc. I’ve learned that the bigger the time the more access I have to game. When and where will they be in production.
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