- Normally there's this
awkwardness around disability.
But with that costume on there,
that changed how people saw my son.
They saw him first before
they saw his disability.
It just helps break down that barrier.
(soft music)
Magic Wheelchair is a nonprofit
that builds epic costumes
for amazing kiddos in wheelchairs.
Magic Wheelchair started when
my son was three years old.
Halloween rolled around,
and he wanted to be a pirate.
We're new to the whole
disabilities and wheelchair theme.
We didn't know anything about
spinal muscular atrophy.
I saw him sittin' in his wheelchair.
Thought how we could
dress him up as a pirate,
be a pirate in a wheelchair,
let's build a ship.
We have made probably about
40 different costumes.
We have teams right now,
all over the country.
We have a team in France,
and working on a team in Australia.
We're just gonna keep onboarding teams,
'cause we wanna build year-round.
It's hard to build for people
that are in wheelchairs.
But it ultimately starts with the kid.
It's whatever they wanna be.
And then we make it a reality.
(piano music)
Halloween was kind of our initial push,
but we're seeing, like, Comic Con, right?
And what's cool about that
community of cos-play,
that's a very supportive community.
The cold reality of childhood diseases
are some of 'em won't be
around for next Halloween.
So let's find something that we can do
while they're here with us.
So, they have these,
that they have great memories and that
their families have
memories when they're gone.
It's almost like a cure for the day.
'Cause they don't see the wheelchair.
They just see these amazing kids.
And it bridges gaps and
overcomes that awkwardness
that we have in society.
I mean, they're the star of the show.
It's awesome to see.
(piano music)
(electronic music)
