Wheelchair user gets new 'rig' after wild ride last summer

Michigan State Police Photo

The Trucker News Services

2/28/2008

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Ben Carpenter, the young wheelchair user who went for the ride of his life last summer while entangled in the front grill of an 18-wheeler, is getting new wheels of his own today.

Invacare Corp. and Cole Rehab Technologies Inc. of Holt, Mich., will give Carpenter an all new Invacare Storm Series 3G Torque SP rear-wheel-drive power wheelchair. Designed for active users, the Torque SP independent rear-wheel suspension is made to absorb significant jolts and impacts in everyday use.

 The chair is the same model he currently uses and the same type he was in the day he took his famous ride.

Carpenter was crossing the street at an intersection in Paw Paw, Mich., in June 2007 in front of a big rig. As the traffic light turned green and the truck began moving forward, Carpenter’s wheelchair became entangled by its push handles in the grill of the truck. The driver did not see Carpenter and was unaware of his plight. The truck reportedly hit speeds of 50 miles per hour and had traveled four miles before the wheelchair rider was rescued.

Miraculously, Carpenter was not njured and his wheelchair was undamaged. The tires, however, were not made to withstand such speeds and were destroyed by the high-speed ride. The wheels were replaced and Carpenter continued relying on the same wheelchair.

Invacare is donating the new wheelchair to Carpenter and will display his existing wheelchair in the company’s Elyria, Ohio, headquarters showroom as a testament to the durability of its design. Cole Rehab is Carpenter’s equipment and service provider.