Meet the Man, 27, Who Designed the Wheelchair That Can Climb Stairs
- A Pretoria man, 27, has come up with an innovative idea to redesign wheelchairs
- The innovation assist wheelchair bound people move easily in high rise buildings
- He redesigns used wheelchairs with a turnaround time of 24 hours
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By Shirley Mathakga - Freelance Journalist
27-year-old Ernest Majenge from Pretoria has come up with a wheelchair design that is able to climb stairs, to help make mobility easier for people living with disabilities. Majenge's innovative idea to redesign existing wheelchairs began when he saw wheelchair confined residents struggle to access high rise buildings which were rarely wheelchair friendly. He also saw disabled children using wheelchairs that were well beyond their lifetime design.
He offered wheelchair repairs for used wheelchairs with a turnaround time of 24 hours, to avoid leaving users stranded. That is how he was able to market his services to his target market.
Majenge says the business was established in 2018, but it was hard to get it off the ground immediately as potential investors did not believe in his idea. He struggled to get funding but did not give up.
Source: UGC
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He fixed one wheelchair at a time until he was able to attract a French investor who injected much needed cash into the project. He spent six months developing the prototype. To date, the qualified account is the owner of 911 Wheelchair Doctor, the name of his company.
"I am also looking to develop a wheelchair that will be suitable for rural area conditions, that will ensure sustainability and long life span" he said.
He plans to open a warehouse and provide his services all over the country.
" It is in times like these where as young people we should stand out and be innovators and take part in the country's economy," he added.
Previously, Briefly News reported Majenge's innovation went viral online. Photos of the wheelchair was posted on Kasi Economy's Twitter page.
The post was captioned:
"This young man has invented a wheelchair that can easily move up and down and climb stairs. Make him famous. Please retweet."
South Africans applauded the young entrepreneur's innovation and one person even said he was "reinventing the wheel."
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Source: Briefly News
Maryn Blignaut (Human-Interest HOD) Maryn Blignaut is the Human Interest manager and feature writer. She holds a BA degree in Communication Science, which she obtained from the University of South Africa in 2016. She joined the Briefly - South African News team shortly after graduating and has over six years of experience in the journalism field. Maryn passed the AFP Digital Investigation Techniques course (Google News Initiative), as well as a set of trainings for journalists by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at: maryn.blignaut@briefly.co.za
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
