Husband creates portable footrest for his wife’s wheelchair

Frank replaced the regular footrest by a foldable version that Ingrid can handle herself by pulling on the strings placed on the side of her chair.

Ingrid got paralyzed after an accident, and she is learning to walk again. Through exercises, she gradually found a minimal use of her legs, which she uses to support her weight when traveling to move in or out of her wheelchair, to stand for a few moments with help and take a few steps behind a walker.

The patient is making progress, but has to train very regularly. This means she must often get up from her chair. The fixed footrest was dangerous and caused many problems, both to stand up and to sit down.

In total, the device cost 88 euros and was manufactured with a carbon plate (to limit its weight) with a thickness of 1.5 mm. After making the necessary cut-outs, the corners were temporarily glued with extra strong glue, the double and triple plates glued to the epoxy. Finally, the corners were definitely assembled with carbon fiber fabric and epoxy. A 19 mm diameter aluminum tube fits into the chassis of the wheelchair where the original footrest was attached.

You can check the plan for the construction of this solution attached.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/2pzKAYt