Last Update :
November 21 2008
| Christian Bagg's passion | | |
Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, the surrounding mountains fed Christian Bagg’s passion for outdoor extreme sports such as downhill mountain bike racing (ranked 2nd in Alberta in the early 1990’s), snowboarding, climbing and caving.
In 1996, Christian, an athletic 20 year-old, broke his back in a fall at an Xtreme Snowboard Competition. From the second that he hit that icy patch of snow, he knew he was never going to walk again.
After only two months of rehabilitation, Christian left the hospital ready to face his new life. It soon occurred to him that in order to accomplish the things he still wanted to do (e.g. ski, climb, and golf) he was going to have to be heavily reliant on technology and innovation. An apprentice in the Machinist Program at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and frustrated with the lack of innovation in current chairs, Christian made modifications to traditional wheelchair design and built his own only a year after his accident. Impressed with Christian’s improvements, other wheelchair users in Calgary commissioned him to build chairs to fit their specific needs.
Most recently, Christian has been working with Stryker Canada LP to design a groundbreaking manual wheelchair for quadriplegics and paraplegics, an innovation that will most certainly revolutionize the manual wheelchair world. Traditional manual chairs have not been a feasible option for the quadriplegic market because of the grip and dexterity required to power the chair. This has closed the door to exercise and recreation for this population. Christian’s chair answers this problem by taking grip out of the equation.
Christian attributes his motivation to challenge the barriers of life in a wheelchair to two things: First, the support and encouragement of friends and family who included him in everything; “They never treated me any differently. They didn’t see any barriers, so why should I?” Second, the potential to make life easier for himself and for others in the same situation by using his technical skills and creativity to solve problems encountered on a daily basis – from having a shower to hiking a mountain.
In his website, www.cripcollege.com, Christian shares his personal story, provides ‘tips’ for wheelchair manoeuvring and his mother has her own section that touches on the challenges the supporting family members and friends of someone with SCI (spinal cord injury) experience. There is also a message board to meet, ask questions and share experiences with others. Christian is excited to reach out to others with a SCI to learn what would make life easier for them and what they consider to be ‘their ideal chair’ so he can go out and design it. | | | |
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