As always I'm cruising the net looking for great stuff and this 4x4 conversion van is awesome! The companies name is Disabled Explorers and they have some great stuff in the works!
The plan calls for a wheelchair lift, tie-downs, a power drivers transfer seat and hand controls. This should give us a great platform to take almost anyone out for their first backcountry experience and since the rig has a nice sleeping setup we can offer overnight outings . I hope to post some pictures soon of the already completed 4wd conversion and the roof installation. I also hope to get out to the SMB West Fresno factory before too much longer to do work myself on the camera system, laptop mount, gps, and adding some extra insulation. But until then please enjoy some previews of the project and our reasons for the choices we are making.
"Britain’s top Paralympic Classes sailors are in confident form ahead of the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships, which get underway in Athens on Wednesday (14 October).
Buoyed by their recent podium performances at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, and in the overall ISAF Sailing World Cup series, British crews in the three Paralympic class boats are determined to continue their winning ways along the road to 2012.
And with all seven Skandia Team GBR sailors set to compete for World Championship glory in Athens this week, more silverware is already within their sights.
For 22-year-old Megan Pascoe, her World Cup series victory in the single-handed 2.4mR class – clinched on home waters in Weymouth in Portland last month – capped off a consistent year and provided a timely boost to her Worlds campaign
“It’s shown that I’ve had a really good year, I’ve been solid and I’ve had some great results so I can be up there with the best of the guys,” she explained.
“I’ve got a very good chance. I’ve been out to Scandinavia as well [as Skandia Sail for Gold] where I beat the best able-bodied guys, so there is the chance that I could go on and win the world title, and that would just be amazing.
“I haven’t sailed in Greece since 2003 so it’s been a while since I’ve been out there. I think it’s just a case of going out there and seeing what I can get. It should be good fun!”
Pascoe will be joined in the 31-boat 2.4mR fleet by Helena Lucas, who finished seventh for Great Britain at the 2008 Paralympic Games.
The World Cup-winning Sonar trio of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas will be looking to reclaim the World Championship title they won in 2005 and 2006 when they line up in the 14-boat Sonar fleet this week.
Robertson, Stodel and Thomas claimed gold for Skandia Team GBR at the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta and silver at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta to establish themselves as key contenders in the Sonar fleet after their disappointment at the Paralympic Games.
“We’ve moved on from Beijing – we came sixth there – and now it’s time to re-establish ourselves as number one in the world,” said a determined Thomas after claiming the World Cup win last month.
Meanwhile in the SKUD 18 – the newest of the Paralympic classes – Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell also have gold in their sights to complete the full set of medals this year, having claimed bronze in Miami, and silver at Skandia Sail for Gold to hand them silver in the overall World Cup series.
The duo, who finished fifth at the Beijing Paralympics, have been working this year with new coach Ian Barker – a silver medallist in the 49er class at the Sydney 2000 Games – which Rickham says has been paying off.
“It’s been really positive,” the 28-year-old explained.
“Obviously Ian’s a silver medal winner so it’s been a great opportunity for us as a team to be able have someone who’s that experienced, and it’s been great for him as he’s been able to understand the way we work and try and tweak a few bits and pieces before the World Championships, which is really our focus this year.”
Rickham continued: “We’re content with the [World Cup] silver, but it’s gold that we really want – that’s what we’re aiming for, and hopefully Ian’s going to be able to help us to complete that.”
Racing at the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship gets underway on Wednesday 14 October. An 11-race series is scheduled, with the regatta concluding on Sunday 18 October.
Lindsey Bell
See Regatta racing images:
Skandia Team GBR squad for the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships:
Name Born Place of Birth Lives
SKUD18
Niki Birrell 16/08/86 Manchester Knutsford
Alexandra Rickham 11/09/1981 Kingston, Jamaica Epsom, Surrey
2.4m
Megan Pascoe 29/11/1986 Shoreham-by-Sea Portland, Dorset
Helena Lucas 29/04/1975 Redhill, Surrey Southampton
Sonar
John Robertson 11/02/1972 Sunderland Sunderland
Hannah Stodel 27/08/1985 Colchester West Mersea
Stephen Thomas 05/01/1977 Bridgend Cardiff"
I was watching the Discovery Channel and The Audeo promises that those who have lost the ability to speak from disease or injury to speak again from thought alone.
"The Audeo will allow people with disabilities to express their thoughts and ideas, an aspect of life which is often taken for granted. ALS patient, Stephen Hawking accomplishes this through the movement of one of his fingers which has remained controllable despite his disease. By being able to move his finger, Stephen Hawking has been able to propose some of the most intelligent ideas of our time. Without that ability, those ideas would be confined to his own mind. Unfortunately, most patients lose all motor control and have no way of conveying their ideas. It is our hope that the Audeo will give people back this ability and allow many more profound ideas to change the world through communication."
"The Audeo is being developed to create a human-computer interface for communication. When a person intends to speak their brain sends muscle instructions in the form of electrical signals through the nervous system. These electrical signals stimulate the muscles to, under normal circumstances, produce the desired speech. In many cases however, disease or disability can prevent the muscles from responding to this stimulation. The Audeo gets around this by directly utilizing the electrical activity itself, which even in severe cases can still be present."
"AN ADVENTURER who uses a wheelchair after breaking her back in a climbing accident will attempt to become the first person to ski to the South Pole using only arm power.
Using a “sit-ski” to propel herself, Karen Darke, 38, of Culduthel Road, Inverness, will negotiate 730 miles of ice and lethal crevasse fields in Antarctica.
During the expedition, called Pole of Possibility, Ms Darke will be joined by her partner, Andy Kirkpatrick, one of the UK’s leading climbers, and Roddy McLauchlan, an Inverness-based personal trainer.
They hope to raise £1million for charities, including the Back Up Trust, an organisation which arranges outdoor sports activity courses for people paralysed through spinal cord injury.
The venture was originally scheduled for 2011, but the team has decided to delay the expedition, which is expected to last for up to 60 days, until the following year.
Ms Darke revealed that she had been asked to take part in the South Pole race that Olympic rowing gold medallist Ben Cracknell and TV presenter Ben Fogle tackled in January this year, but turned down the opportunity.
It was also announced this week that Ms Darke has been shortlisted in the Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women of the Year Awards in the ultimate fearless female category.
Ms Darke said: “I feel quite humble being nominated in the same category as people who do aid work or work in developing countries, but we all have our own strengths.”
Grantown-born Ms Darke was 21 when she was paralysed from the chest down in a rock-climbing accident at Cove, Aberdeen.
Despite using a wheelchair, she has completed an eight-week, 1,200-mile, hand-bike tour across the Tien Shan and Karakoram mountains of central Asia and made a record-breaking 360-mile crossing of Greenland on a sit-ski similar to what she will use in Antarctica.
For information about sponsoring and donating, log on to http://www.karendarke.com/
I'm reading about this ranch in California that provides outdoor rides in special designed carriages drafted by massive horses.
"Our Mission: Enriching the lives of people with disabilities and underserved youth by providing outdoor recreation, environmental education and open space access, using innovative wheelchair accessible horsedrawn carriages.
Access Adventure is a program of the Solano Land Trust, and also works with the Muir Heritage Land Trust in Contra Costa County.
Serving the people of the greater San Francisco Bay Area, the program operates on more than 16,000 acres of preserved open space lands. Solano Land Trust’s Rush Ranch, located near Suisun City on 2,070 acres, straddles the Suisun Marsh, and is the headquarters for Access Adventure.
The Muir Heritage Land Trust hosts Access Adventure as a user group on the spectacular properties they protect. Both land trusts have ample areas to explore with the horsedrawn carriages of Access Adventure.
We provide weekly events of recreational carriage driving, special events featuring historical horsefarming, youth programs and unique educational opportunities relating to preservation, ecology, wildlife habitat and rangeland management.
The programs of Access Adventure are provided to anyone living with a condition that affects their ability to get around. We use Thornlea Carriages built by Jerry and Barbara Garner in Wabash, Indiana. These uniquely designed vehicles offer a safe and comfortable ride, providing access to anywhere horses can go. The world becomes a bigger place, with the pleasure of being out in nature accessible to everyone.
If your in the west and want to experience this amazing experience go to http://www.access-adventure.org/access.html
"AT 11 years old, Dwayne Fernandes had become a double leg amputee.
Now 23, he runs up buildings with more than 1500 stairs.
Indian-born Fernandes, who resides in Blacktown, was born with a birth defect that left him with weak lower limbs.
This in turn forced him to have his feet removed and replaced with titanium carbon-fibre prosthetics.
Last year, Fernandes put his legs to the ultimate test and became the first double amputee to run up the 1501-stair Sydney Tower Run-Up event.
And as far as he is concerned, it hasn’t really affected his life negatively at all.
“I’ve pretty much been able to do everything that anybody else can do, well ... except bungee jumping for obvious reasons,” he jokes.
“I’ve always been a confident person and never try to disguise my prosthetic legs, like a lot of amputees do, because I feel I am who I am and they are a part of me.”
In fact, Fernandes said there were benefits to his prosthetics that other people missed out on.
It has meant that he can choose his own height and is vertically free.
“I remember in university there was a girl who was two inches taller than me, and by the end of the year she was shocked to see I was two inches taller than her,” he said.
Fernandes has adopted a simple, yet effective philosophy that he encourages everybody to live by.
“It’s either hide in your own shadow or get out and inspire others. I’ve got a couple of friends who have a disability and hide behind it, but I see this as pretty pointless,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve got, as long as you use it, because in countries like Australia there’s so much to utilise so you can’t really waste it on excuses.”
And with that, Fernandes will take on a new world-first this February when he flies to New York in an attempt to become the first double amputee to scale the 1576 stairs of the Empire State building Tower-Run Up.
As an insolvency accountant by day for PBB, Fernandes says his goal wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for PBB sponsoring him to fly to New York for the event."
Double Amputee Climbs Everest - Click here for more free videosIt's old news on the 'net but very worth posting here. 53 year old double amputee Mark Inglis a New Zealander climbed the world's tallest mountain Mt. Everest in 2006.
A man in their group died and many people have questioned what happened but if you go up that mountain you take your life in your own hands.
