This Mom Built Her Paralyzed Baby A DIY Wheelchair From Pinterest

Docs told Kim Moore that her baby would have to wait for a wheelchair. Instead, she built her own.

Kate Desmond
August 17, 2016 |Last updated on 01/07/2022

Evelyn Moore was diagnosed with cancer at 4 months old. After her heartbreaking diagnosis and eight rounds of chemotherapy, Evelyn is now in remission. But, the neuroblastoma tumor on her spine has left her permanently paralyzed below her arms.

Doctors had initially recommended Evelyn learn to army crawl her way around until she was ready for a wheelchair. Dissatisfied with this advice, Evelyn’s mom, Kim Moore, began researching options and found a DIY wheelchair on Pinterest.

Determined to give Evelyn some independence, her parents got to work. They made the DIY baby wheelchair when Evelyn was 7 months old using a Bumbo floor seat, a kitchen cutting board, and wheels from a children’s bike.

All in all, the parents said it took one night of hard work and $100 to make. In the meantime, they’ll save for the larger wheelchair in Evelyn’s future that will cost thousands.

It took some time to master, but by 13 months old Evelyn had learned how to maneuver her chair with lightning speed.

“She went backwards first and then she went forwards, and then she figured out how to turn,” Moore told The Star in 2016. “And now we have a speed bump in the middle of our living room because she just goes that fast.”

We can’t stop marveling at the “unstoppable” Evelyn. Watch this inspiring video below:

“Normally, she would be propped in a chair or a seat or a stroller somewhere,” Moore said. “This has allowed her to explore her environment just like a crawling child would.”

We hope Evelyn is continuing to grow and thrive — and with such determined and creative parents, we have no doubt she is.

There’s really no limit to the things parents will do to make sure their children can participate in all aspects of life — regardless of any physical limitations they may have. Kate Swenson, whose son Cooper is on the autism spectrum and does not speak, found a creative way for the boy to participate in a video contest of kids saying “mama.”

Cooper is eating ALL DAY LONG. He’s growing like a moose and genuinely hungry. I find it to be a struggle since he only eats a small variety of foods. Keeping it in our house is impossible. We go through 2 quarts of strawberries, a large bag of veggie straws/GF chips and pounds of chicken so quickly. I don’t understand how he doesn’t get sick of the same foods over and over again. He’s a growing boy…which is great! But I sure wish he’d cut me a break an eat other foods! #autism

A post shared by KT (@findingcoopersvoice) on Sep 16, 2017 at 3:35pm PDT

At first, Swenson assumed Cooper wouldn’t be able to submit a video. But then it occurred to her that her son could, in fact, say mama — he just needs a little help from his specialized tablet.

Watch the touching video they submitted to the contest:

[h/t: The Canadian Press]

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About the Author

Kate Desmond

Kate is a freelance writer, mommy blogger, safe sleep crusader, and wannabe inventor in search of her next great idea. She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and two little girls. They are the loves of her life, but also drive her to insanity. She writes about living on that brink on her blog, The Tiny Fashionista.