Semi takes wheelchair-bound man on 50 MPH ride

[BeyondGeography]

Paw Paw - A wheelchair-bound man went on the ride of his life Wednesday after visiting a gas station in Van Buren County.

Calls began pouring in to the Paw Paw post of the Michigan State Police around 4:00 p.m. The first call came in with a woman telling dispatchers, "You are not going to believe this, there is a semi- truck pushing a guy in a wheel chair on Red Arrow Highway!"

...Troopers and officers found a 21-year-old man un-harmed as he sat in his wheelchair, its handles still lodged in the truck's front grill.

Investigators say the semi truck owned by RMI had pulled out of a local gas station. The young man in the wheelchair some how pulled in front of the semi-truck, causing his wheelchair handles to become stuck in the front grill of the truck.

...Police say the 21-year-old man was un-harmed and unfazed by the incident. The young man was quoted as saying, "It was quite a ride."

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=76184

[Buzz Clik]

1. "Unfazed"? I would have crapped my pants.

[IDemo]

2. The least he could have done is chip in for gas

[porphyrian]

3. Since everything worked out and the guy was OK, that's kind of funny. - n/t

[Fridays Child]

4. Wow.

[enki23]

5. must have been a good chair

somehow, i doubt they're usually expected to be able to ride smoothly at 50 mph.

[Javaman]

that thing had to have a good set of tires on it...

I bet we will be seeing on the discovery channel next week, "Pimp your wheel chair".

[BeyondGeography]

8. ...

:rofl:

[Philosoraptor]

10. This one's electric, he & the chair weigh 400 lbs. at least

You can see the joy stick on the left armrest. The wheels on these things don't move until you push the joystick, they don't just roll like conventional wheelchairs. I assume they were not moving at all but skidding down the pavement in the locked position, but who knows.

Had it been a conventional chair, I doubt he'd have survived. This guy obviously can't get out of the chair and even appears to be wearing a seat belt.

[enid602]

6. analogy

This is a good analogy for how the US public feels under Bushco.

[alkaline9]

7. except we're not "unharmed and unfazed" ..nt

[Catherine Vincent]

9. LOL! That's funny! n/t

[Ezlivin]

11. I thought he was in a manual chair, but he was using a power chair!

That's even more amazing.

Power chairs weigh a hell of a lot more than a manual chair (what I use). I'm shocked that his chair didn't fail and cause him to be ground up under the truck's front axle.

Since a power chair can cost $20K and up, I wonder who'll reimburse this young man for the repairs to his chair? And I really, really hope that he doesn't live in an area where he'll have to live without his chair while it's being repaired!

[Philosoraptor]

12. Mine weighs 250

And with me on it, 450, and when you hit something solid, it moves.

I figure he wedged it in the truck grill real good, cause these chairs have a LOT of power, and the fact that it was so heavy and solid, it wasn't crushed under the bumper. How long it would have held is anybody's guess.

I'd have died of shock for sure, but it's a hell of a story, I've sent it to all my friends.

[Ezlivin]

13. If he'd been in a iBot chair, he would have died

None of the iBot chairs that I've seen have push handles.

I'm not ready to move to a power chair yet, but the VA is now supplying veterans with iBots. I like them but I'm 6'7" and most chairs simply are not designed for tall guys like me.