Verdun sports store owner designs winter wheelchair

An eight-year old boy from Verdun is having an easier time getting around this winter.

David Coronattahas cerebral palsy and epilepsy, so he uses a wheelchair.

Snowy streets and icy sidewalks meant he wasoften housebound in the winter,until his mother, Nathalie Richard,reached out to a local sports shop owner.

Richard went toLaurent Gagnon,the owner of Sports Campus in Verdun, trying to find a better way.

"Its quite difficult to go anywhere,"Richard told Sue Smith on CBC's Homerun. "Wehavebeen looking for a solution for years."

Richard says available winter wheelchair units are very expensive, not easy to findand often imported from the United States.

Gagnonsays he was able to piece together a set of skis that attachto David's wheelchair from parts he already had available at his shop.

"It was basically a puzzle and all the pieces were in the store," he said.

Now, Richard says she is able to travel around the city with her son at a fraction of the cost of other commercially produced units.

"Hes sliding on the snow now, so I dont get stuck anywhere," she said.

Richard also runs a non-profit foundation calledL'toile de Pacho for parents of children with disabilities.

"Everyone is looking for solutions during winter and no one has a big budget," she said.

Gagnon says he is not planning to make money with his invention, and would consider patenting the design for Richard's foundation so he could continue building the units for parents.

"Im not trying toprofit on the backs of kids. I think its necessary for them," he said.