Kevan, a disabled person, travels the world carried on the shoulders of his friends

KEVAN CHANDLER –

Vacation time is approaching. Many, however, will not be able to leave because for them travel is equivalent to a real Odyssey. It is the story of many Disabled who are forced to give up a few weeks of leisure because their wheelchairs are too great an impediment. However, Kevan Chandler has managed to overcome these difficulties thanks to some friends who they carry him around the world on their shoulders. Confined to a wheelchair due to a degenerative disease since he was a child, this 40 year old American boy thanks to his stubbornness and that of the people who love him he rebelled against a destiny that would have him locked inside his room or at least with limited movements. And instead he climbs mountains, crosses boschi and visit the most beautiful cities of art.

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TRAVELING WITH CROWDFUNDING –

Kevan suffers from a terrible and rare neurodegenerative disease, thespinal muscular atrophy, and has been confined to a wheelchair since birth. Nevertheless, he has achieved the dream of all young Americans: to make a journey on the road in the Old Continent. He started from Fort Wayne, Indiana. on the shoulders of a group of friends and he had the opportunity to see Abbey Road, the Eiffel Tower but also a small island in Ireland and Samois-sur-Seine in France. The credit for this small miracle goes to Ben Duvall, Tom Troyer and Philip Keller, a teacher, a musician and a photographer friends of Kavan, who thanks to a special harness transported him in turns to places where it would have been impossible to reach with a wheelchair. In addition to having invented a prototype backpack that proved to be very reliable, the four also created “We Carry Kevan”, a fundraising campaign on the GoFundMe website to finance the trip. In just four months, they managed to raise $33, which allowed them to cover all the costs of the European “expedition.”

INITIATIVES FOR MUSCULAR ATROPHY PATIENTS –

THEspinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects one in 6 to 10 newborns worldwide. There is still no effective therapy for it. "My wheelchair is definitely the most comfortable place I know," Kevan explained in a recent interview, "but I've realized that sometimes it's helpful to break the habits to question oneself". A challenge that does not end with the trip to Europe, Kevan in fact made it known that his journey continues and in the coming months he will write a book about his experience in the hope of inspiring other people with disabilities. Because dreams, even the most ambitious, can come true.

TO KNOW MORE: BiciclaAbile, the project that allows disabled children to revive old bicycles.

The photos are taken from the Instagram page Wecarrykevan