There are two types of wheelchairs. First, the electric wheelchair. It is easy to control with a joystick, but very heavy. An electric wheelchair usually weighs 100 kilograms! It is often difficult to fold one, to fit into a car.
Manual wheelchairs, on the other hand, only weigh about 10 to 15 kilograms. They are light and foldable. But manual wheelchairs require the user to use both hands.
The story of the ‘Great Wheelchair’ started two years ago, when its creator met a little boy in a manual wheelchair.
◇ A Wheelchair Changes Children’s Lives
Shim Jae-Shin, founder of Todo Works, was introduced to one of his daughter’s friends in the summer of 2015. He couldn’t use his legs and was in a manual wheelchair.
“He told me he kept an electric wheelchair at school. It was too big to carry home in a car. Because he couldn’t move around easily in the manual wheelchair, he mostly stayed home after school.”
Shim carefully looked at the manual wheelchair. That’s when he came up with an idea to attach a small motor!
“I just told him then and there to wait, that I would make him a new wheelchair.”
Four months later, he did. Shim attached a motor to the boy's wheelchair. Then strange things started to happen a few days later. People started calling his office to inquire about it.
“The kid started going out in the wheelchair. Moms with kids experiencing a similar problem, saw it, and asked me to make them one too.”
Shim later discovered the motor he made was already in the market, known as the power assist. Mostly imported, a power assist weighs 10 kilograms, and costs between 6 and 7 million won.
Shim eventually founded a company named Todo Works in April 2016, and gave his power assist the name, ‘Todo Drive.’
A Todo Drive weighs 4.5 kilograms, less than half the weight and only a quarter the price of those already in the market.
The Todo Drive finally went into sale last November. Amid a very positive consumer response, 300 units were sold in a period of 6 months!
◇ Children Change His Life
All 12 employees of Shim’s company visit their clients to personally attach a Todo Drive onto their wheelchairs.
“None of our employees have a disability. We wouldn’t need this process if we fully understood what it meant to have a disability. So right now we need to meet with them as much as we can and listen to their needs. When we receive an order, we go out to meet the client, and repeat this process. And we meet with all of our young clients. After all, we started this project to help children.”
The number of children using power-assisted manual wheelchairs is on the rise.
“One of the first things our clients buy is an umbrella. It’s because they now can hold one in their wheelchairs. They also like drinking their coffee with one hand while moving about in a park.”
A man who enjoys making things, changed the lives of children in his neighborhood. The children, also changed Shim’s life.
“People who make things are moved when someone expresses gratitude for their product. All our employees are immersed in their work because they are often moved by people who thank them. We will continue to make things. After all, that’s what we do.”
<Reporting: Lee Sungkyung> <Translation : Choi You Sun>