Just this week, an inspiring, not to mention adorable, story emerged out of a Home Depot in northern Texas.
It was there that several employees used the very materials they sell in their store to create a walker for a 2-year-old boy, Silus, who suffers from Norrie Disease – a disease that has left him blind and with very low muscle tone.
And they did it all free of charge.
Using PVC pipe, foam and a few other materials, the men created a custom walker for Silus. They even coated parts of it in reflective tape to make the walker more safe to use in public.
Since the good samaritans handed the walker off to Silus and his family for free, the total price of the end product is unknown, but we can be sure that it is a far less expensive than the average walker for toddlers, which have an average retail price of $500 or more.
Generosity and Innovation
Besides the absolute generosity of these men, this brings up a larger issue (and incidentally its solution): the price of special needs products. Special needs devices are not cheap, and it doesn’t seem that their prices are going to drastically drop anytime in the near future.
For people who need adaptive devices to help them get around, it is price that generally keeps them away from independent living. But with innovation, the price of manufacturing these devices can be brought down.
We’ve previously written a lot about 3D printed wheelchair parts, mobile apps and other types of Internet-based technology for adaptive devices, yet little has been done to drop the price on devices.
Learning From This Story
Stories like this one show that people can come together and, with a bit of ingenuity, create something that works.
And they can do it all for a very low price.
All we need to do is promote these types of innovations within the industry, and hopefully one day products can be made available at a price that everyone can afford.
At Rollx Vans, we are constantly finding ways to drop the prices of our new wheelchair vans through new materials and innovative techniques. The solution to more affordable products is out there, we just have to work together to find it.
What do you think of the story out of Texas? How can we create products that are affordable for everyone? Join the conversation by commenting below!