Electric WheelChair Transporter, for those who can’t get around as easily as others.

If you need to use a large electric wheelchair to get around, get your shopping, go to events, go to your mates or even the beach, how do you get there?

I’ll tell you how, with great difficulty and usually only when someone is there to help you load your large heavy wheelchair into an adapted vehicle, if you have one, or on to a trailer with ramps.

The Laura Fergusson Brain Injury Trust (LFBIT) and Precision Waterjet Ltd (PWJ) both based in Christchurch, have joined in a Research Partnership to design an Airbag ground loading trailer to assist in the transportation of disability transport devices such as large electric and off-road wheelchairs. These trailers will support users who currently struggle with ramps and other vehicles not designed with their needs in mind.

PWJ is paying for the R&D. Your funds will provide a trailer or as many as we can to the LFBIT to give to users in one form or another, hire, loan, trial until they know what they want in their own version.

Currently most users will need a support person to help load and unload their larger electric and outdoor wheelchairs. For most, using ramps on a standard trailer is not an option.

An airbag ground loading trailer designed to overcome the problems of single user loading with better tie down access, remote wireless controls for deck height and no maintenance, will change significantly how users can become more independent and venture out without having to rely on the availability of a support person. Things most of us take for granted.

We will build the first prototype and deliver it at no cost to the LFBIT who will work with their support staff and users to help us finalise a suitable design to roll out.

PWJ will continue ongoing development as we build to order for anyone who has a need whilst continually fund raising where possible to make these trailers as affordable as we can to deserving users.

By contributing at this stage you will be setting the scene for all future development and helping us design what is needed in this sector and perhaps helping someone you know become more independent.

Your support will be noted (if you want it to be) on our acknowledgment page as we build a website providing you with updates on our progress and the users who get to use the trailers.

We know they will be more grateful than you can imagine if they can resume some more independence and get themselves around more easily.

The funds will be used specifically to purchase the steel for the first few trailers as well as the airbags which are imported along with the air compressors and tanks, wheels and tires are from a local supplier and Galvanizing is about $700 per trailer. We will purchase what we can from New Zealand suppliers. Each trailer will retail between $10,000-$11,500 depending on fittings.

The photo is our current trailer that will be the starting place for development, it will be shorter, two axles rather than four and remote controlled for lowering. The wheelchair photos are representative of the types we will be designing for.

Please do what you can to help us reach our goal of having the first trailer available to the LFBIT by November this year. As I said, if we get more than we need for the first few trailers we will simply keep building and subsidising as many as we can.

Thanks for your support and please share this page with the share button on the right.

Alan from PWJ and the team at the Laura Fergusson Brain Injury Trust.