"Turning Tuesdays" with Bill Sands & Mikey Ellison

This post is well worthy of not just the fellow who is a wheelchair user but the people behind him the article was written back in 2010.

"Turning Tuesdays" is about Mike Ellison (Mikey) and his friends. The story is from Woodcraft with their kind permission, I am still waiting to hear from Mike himself.

The article is produced by Frank here is an extract but the whole story is worth a read click on Turning Tuesdays above. 

The weekly event takes place not far from the Parkersburg, West Virginia Woodcraft Store at the woodshop of Bill Sands. This is not a club, but a fellowship of men, centered around one individual through comradery, support, and the love for woodturning and woodworking.

Mike (Mikey) Ellison is the reason for the group’s existence. Ellison is also the father of two boys and an electrician for ten years at Borg Warner / GE Plastics in West Virginia. One day Mikey was deer hunting from a tree stand. All alone, he descended from the stand, grabbing on to a branch on his way down. The branch snapped dropping Mikey 21′ as he attempted to land on his feet; the impact shattered his ribs and crushed his spine. As a result, Mikey will be paralyzed from the upper chest down to his feet for the rest of his life.
Mikey had always been a strong and healthy individual; now left with only the use of his arms and hands, he found himself recooperating from this accident with his life partner Suzy, who was instrumental in helping him adjust to his new life.
One of the first things Mikey started to do was enter wheelchair race competitions, but he found he needed more to keep himself active and creative, both mentally and physically. He found his niche in woodworking. For the past nine months Mikey has expanded his interest, “turning” his abilities into the art of woodturning.