WheelchairFX Lights It Up

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--According to WheelchairFX founder Tom Rapp, wheelchair accessories such as lights and other bells and whistles typically drain battery life. But the company’s new lights, fashioned with LED technology, don’t cause that problem.

“You can leave them on for 40 or 50 hours and it won’t do anything to the battery,” said Rapp, who is a self-proclaimed “mobility guy.”
 
Rapp, a mobility specialist at Pro Rehab in Rochester, N. Y., has spent the past 20 years in the industry, previously working at the city’s Southside Medical Supply and at Hillside Children’s Center as a recreational therapist.
 
When one of his patients was hit by a pickup truck last year while crossing a street, he set about figuring out how to make her new wheelchair more visible. The accident happened at dusk, when visibility is normally low and “the snowbanks in Rochester make it worse,” Rapp said. He began researching safety lighting for wheelchairs and met with engineers to figure out how using the LED technology could work safely.
 
Pro Rehab displayed some of Rapp’s accessorized chairs “lit up like a Christmas tree” at several festivals, and he showed off the lights at a wheelchair soccer practice at the Rochester Rehabilitation Center, where he had been a volunteer. The response was illuminating: “The kids went wild,” Rapp said.
 
In fact, response to the lights has been so good that Rapp has partnered with the New York State Industries for the Disabled to assemble and distribute his company’s new lighting kits. The lights offer flash, fade, a “million-color” option, remote control and music reactive capabilities. Rapp said the color-changing options were inspired by his previous work with children. The style, safety and visibility added by the lights “lets people feel better about being in a chair,” he said.
 
WheelchairFX offers the lights on its Web site, and Rapp is hopeful providers will be as excited about the product as wheelchair users seem to be.
 
The company officially opened its doors July 1, appropriate for the time of year since Rapp said he is working on adding other “independence-related products,” such as turn indicators, custom joystick covers, festive horns and even iPod docks in headrests to keep up with the positive response.
 
“So far,” he said, “people are thrilled.”