My name is Gordon Brown. Seven years ago, at the age of 59, I fell down three steps and suffered a C3 to C7 spinal cord injury. As a result, my hands don’t work and I am paralyzed from my chest down. Luckily, I can still move my arms and, although I have a limited range of motion, I’m grateful to be able to use them.

Having traveled around the country over the past seven years, I’ve tried out a lot of the equipment for people with disabilities. I have an engineering background, and as a result, I have come to the disappointing realization that devices intended for quadriplegics are most likely designed by people who have no idea what it’s like to be paralyzed, no engineering background, or even the imagination to creatively solve a lot of the daily challenges we face.

I am hoping to create a website for people who have serious spinal cord injuries so that we can come together to identify machines and tools that work well or might be helpful for our day-to-day needs. If you are someone who’s benefited from a useful tool or machine, please feel free to suggest any product that you know, you’ve used, you love, or even hate!

I would especially like to reach out to C3s worldwide to learn about better machines or ideas around the globe.

If you know anyone who might be interested, please suggest that he or she sign into this group and spread the word. Unfortunately, there are a lot more out of us out there than you can imagine, so I would love to put our collective brains together and make our world a little better. Can you or I make a dent in our universe? I’m inclined to think so!

Thank you, Gordon