Teens build motorized wheelchair for needy child

Cheri Haggard wanted to bring some important life lessons to the robotics classes she teaches through her Mission Viejo non-profit, MATHMania Robotics.

So when she heard about college students who designed low-cost wheelchairs for needy kids, Haggard was inspired. This spring, she led a team of local teenagers to build a motorized wheelchair for Landon Sun, a 4-year-old who suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disease which causes muscle weakness and progressive loss of movement.

On Wednesday, Haggard and two of the teens involved with the project met Landon and gave him the red Mickey-Mouse themed wheelchair they made for him. Landon lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is visiting Disneyland this week with his parents and older sister.

It took less than a minute for Landon to learn to use the joystick to maneuver his wheelchair through the Disneyland Hotel lobby.

Due to his disease, Landon has never walked.

"This means independence," said Landon's mother, Danyelle Sun. "Landon has a manual wheelchair but because of his disease, he gets tired easily. This is such a nice option to help him keep up with his cousins and other children when he's playing."

"It's also really special that it was other kids who made it for him," Danyelle Sun added.

Ryan Sebti, 15, and Megan Regier, 13, who both helped make the wheelchair, laughed as they watched a smiling Landon spin in circles.

Haggard learned about the Open Wheelchair Foundation when she read a story in a Brigham Young University publication about engineering students there designing a low-cost wheelchair for small children. Using their plans and equipment costing about $500, Haggard and a small group of teens built the chair frame with PVC pipe, and programmed a motor controlled with a tiny joystick. It took two successive Saturdays this Spring to build.

"All of us looked at the wheelchair and said, 'It's so tiny'," recalled Haggard. But the wheelchair was just the right size for Landon, who weighs just 27 pounds.

Other MATHMania students who helped build the chair were Imaad Rana and Caleb Chan.

Haggard plans to lead student engineering teams in building more motorized wheelchairs. To learn more, or to support their efforts, go online to www.mathmaniarobotics.com.