• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • FAQ
  • Meet the Team
  • About The London Economic
  • Advertise
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
NEWSLETTER
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Must Reads Good News

Disabled man whose friends carried him on their backs across Europe now tackling China

Wheelchair user Kevan Chandler, 32, was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a condition that impacts the area of the nervous system that controls muscle movement.

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
June 15, 2018
in Good News, Must Reads

A disabled man whose friends carried him on their backs throughout Europe are to tackle a new adventure and backpack him through CHINA.

Wheelchair-user Kevan Chandler, 32, was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a condition that impacts the area of the nervous system that controls muscle movement.

Kevan, a public speaker, always wanted to visit Europe but his worries about wheelchair accessibility put his trip on hold.

But the dream became a reality in summer 2016, when a group of his friends encouraged him to explore the continent on their backs.

The group of six modified a child’s carrier to support 75lb Kevan and took it in turns to carry the backpack.

Kevan said the adventure, which saw the group travel to France, Ireland and the UK, was a life-changing experience.

RelatedPosts

Abhorrent attack on pensioner with leukaemia leaves her badly bruised

Doctor appears in court video call for traffic violation while performing surgery

Rooster cuts man’s groin and kills him at illegal cockfight and a lot of people said same thing

Watch – NHS carer’s remote island home means she has perhaps UK’s trickiest commute

The trip inspired Kevan and his friends Ben Duvall, 28, Tom Troyer, 30, Dan Tenney, 32, Luke Thompson, 28 and Danny Qin, 16, to travel the length and breadth of China in the autumn.

The six pals, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA, will depart on August 30 and visit Guilin, Luoyang and Beijing during the three-week trip.

Along the way, the group plans to volunteer in care centers run by charity Show Hope, an organisation which supports children with disabilities in China.

Kevan said: “Four of the guys who went on the Europe trip are coming this time too.

“But I realised that wasn’t it at all. I wanted to prove that traveling like this could be done. The experience was life-changing.”

Since the last trip, Kevan founded his organisation We Carry Kevan, which aims to encourage wheelchair users to think outside the box in terms of accessibility.

The organisation is even working with German carrier company Deuter to create a professionally designed version of Kevan’s carrier.

Kevan said: “Since the last trip, we’ve been working with the company to make a more professional version which is so great. They’re hoping to put it into production in the fall.

“It’s a creative way to make the world more accessible, but it obviously won’t work for everyone.

“That’s why we’re hoping We Carry Kevan will inspire a network of people to find creative ways to make things possible, or at least to try not to limit themselves.

“We’re hoping this trip to China will be even more fulfilling and spread our message even further.”

To donate to We Carry Kevan’s campaign visit: https://www.gofundme.com/wecarrykevanchina

 

Former Royal Marine begins his attempt to be the first blind person to row the Pacific

 

Touching moment wheelchair-bound groom overcome with emotion as bride walks down the aisle

Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending fromTLE

  • All
  • trending

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

Stress, fear and homelessness: The threat looming over families confronted with eviction

File photo dated 07/11/03 of a prison cell.

The Other Prison Pandemic

Latest from TLE

Image by AdobeStock

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Monday 8 March 2021

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today, 8 March 2021

How To Make: Beef Cabbage Stir-fry

How To Make: Beef and Cabbage Stir-fry

‘We gave as much as we possibly can’ to NHS heroes, Boris claims

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: jack@thelondoneconomic.com

Commercial enquiries, please contact: advertise@thelondoneconomic.com

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech & Auto
  • About The London Economic
  • Meet the Team
  • Privacy policy

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.