Amputees given Segways to ease mobility

[unhappycamper]

Soldiers, Marines, and airmen who lost limbs and sustained other disabling injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan wait to pick up their free Seqways at a "Segs4Vets" ceremony in Arlington, Va., on May 7. Seg4Vets, a project of Disability Rights Advocates for Technology (DRAFT), has given away more than 148 Segways over the last two years to Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.


Amputees given Segways to ease mobility
By Patrick Winn - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 8, 2008 6:13:12 EDT

Tech. Sgt. Adam Popp just got a lot faster.

After returning from Afghanistan last year, where a makeshift bomb blasted his right leg near Forward Operating Base Gardez, the airman encountered the same options all leg amputees face: wheelchairs and prosthetics.

Now he owns a Segway, those upright two-wheeled electric vehicles favored by cops and tourists. Popp was among 29 injured service members to receive one Wednesday from the Florida-based charity Disability Rights Advocates for Technology.

Segways, essentially wheeled platforms with handlebars, stay balanced with an internal gyroscope and can travel more than 12 mph.

The group’s “Segs 4 Vets” campaign has delivered more than 150 Segways to injured military members. Though unaffiliated with Segway’s makers, they want to recast the vehicle’s image as a $5,500 toy into a blessing to the thousands of soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors who have lost limbs to the signature weapon of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan: improvised explosive devices.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/05/airforce_segways_050708/