Man builds toilet bed for his wife

Krishnammal, S. Saravanamuthu’s wife, had surgery, in 2014, and had to stay in bed for three months during the recovery. Because of that, she had to depend on her family for all kind of tasks, including going to the bathroom.

It was very hard and embarrassing for the woman to ask for help. “It was very difficult for my wife to depend on people, something she has never done in her life. She preferred controlling herself over asking for people’s help. This was affecting her health, so I decided to make a bed with a provision of a toilet”, the husband explained.

This solution, a remote-controlled bed, has a cot fitted with a 12 V battery to operate two gear motors for moving the attached toilet pot vertically and sideways. It includes a remote-controlled flushing system for the pot, which makes it easy for the user to flush after use. It works with a flush tank, a closet and a pipe that is connected to the septic tank. The patient can operate the toilet with the help of a remote control. The buttons help them open the shutter and the closet as well as flushing the toilet.

After telling the story of this innovation to a local newspaper, the welder started receiving requests from other people who needed this device. However, he didn’t have the money to produce more beds.

A few months later, the inventor presented his invention to the former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, who convinced him to apply for the National Innovation Foundation, a government undertaking that helps strengthen technological innovations at the grassroots level. S. Saravanamuthu followed the advice and received a trophy, a certificate and about 3000 USD from President Ram Nath Kovind along with reimbursement of 511 USD for making the prototype.

Since then, he has been receiving orders from across the country with over 350 requests from Chennai alone, where is lives. Now, due to financial constraints, he is not accepting further orders.

Adapted from: https://bit.ly/2FHkWIo