Going after the Fastest Wheelchair World Record

posted on Jul 19 by Amelia in the Disability News category

Bob Gullickson is on a mission to drive a rocket-powered wheelchair at speeds that could reach 100 miles per hour in an effort to set a world wheelchair record.

Disabled from a motorcycle accident, Gulickson has been a paraplegic since he was 19. He was a cook in the US Navy when he fell from his motorcycle and landed on a landscape stake that struck his spinal cord.

Gullickson has a passon for hot cars, fast motors, and the element of surprise.

“It’s not just speed, but to do something that surprises myself and others,” he explained. “I think I have a desire to do things that have speed involved, but I won’t do anything faster than my guardian angel says is OK.”

The wheelchair he will be performing this stunt in resembles a high tech go-cart invented by Ky Michaelson, a nationally renowned inventor when it comes to speed.  They agreed that a regular wheelchair would not be safe.  The machine weighs about 150 pounds, shoots forward on a hydrogen peroxide-fueled thrust, and has handles on the back to resemble a wheelchair.

The Guinness Book of World Records has told him that a new category called “fastest wheelchair” has been opened in anticipation of the September event.