wheelchair | Common News Update

Aug42020 by adminNo Comments

GB wheelchair basketballer Sophie Carrigill on her Paralympic ambition in Tokyo

Sports

By Sophie CarrigillGB wheelchair basketballer and Rio ParalympianLast updated on 4 hours ago4 hours ago.From the section Disability SportTen years ago, teenager Sophie Carrigill was in a car accident while on holiday in the United States.The confident, sport-loving 16-year-old from Wakefield broke her back and spinal cord and suffered serious internal injuries.It left her paralysed from the waist down and facing a different future to the one she had imagined. But she eventually returned to sport and is part of the Great Britain wheelchair basketball team. Here she talks candidly about the accident and the moment that changed her life.I don't remember the accident itself, thankfully. I was told later the car was going too fast around a corner and the driver lost control and hit a tree. I wa...

CES 2020: Segway’s prototype wheelchair crashes at tech show

Technology

Segway's prototype wheelchair crashed during a demonstration at the CES tech show. The S-Pod - a self-balancing electric wheelchair - was being tested by a journalist at the time. The rider had accelerated the vehicle before accidently crashing into a wall. Its maximum speed is 24mph (38km/h). The company said no one was injured. The crash made the S-Pod unavailable for further demos, but analysts say the company should not face lasting damage. "In no way is a [malfunction] a total loss. It is still a sign to the public that the company is close to the finished product," said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research. The S-Pod is designed to be driven in enclosed spaces such as airports, theme parks and work campuses.Seg...

Stephen Hawking's wheelchair up for auction

World

Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A nine-day online auction of physicist Stephen Hawking's memorabilia, including his motorized wheelchair, began on Wednesday. Twenty-two items are up for auction by Christie's auction house in London. The wheelchair has already received a bid of over $ 25,000 and is expected to sell for about $ 215,000. Also to be auctioned are Hawking's script for an appearance on The Simpsons television program, which has received a $ 1,800 bid, and an invitation to a 2013 "Time Traveler's Reception," one of 100 meant to unite anyone on Earth who returned from a future time. The current bid for the invitation is $ 4,466. Autographed copies, featuring his thumbprint on the first page, of Hawking's celebrated book "A Brief History of Time Travel," and copies of his 1963 PhD. thesis, are a...