These wheelchair costumes are ‘epic’

Being in a wheelchair is difficult, and can be especially tough for kids. Ryan and Lana Weimer knew that firsthand from the difficulties three of their own children experienced.

So, the Weimer decided they would make amazing Halloween costumes that not only transformed their children’s wheelchairs but gave them coolest costumes in town. Then the idea blossomed into doing the same for other children through the non-profit group Magic Wheelchair.

The couple founded Magic Wheelchair to help kids in wheelchairs not only fit in at Halloween but to be recognized for their epic costumes.

Being in a wheelchair is difficult, and can be especially tough for kids. Ryan and Lana Weimer knew that firsthand from the difficulties three of their own children experienced.

So, the Weimer decided they would make amazing Halloween costumes that not only transformed their children’s wheelchairs but gave them coolest costumes in town. Then the idea blossomed into doing the same for other children through the non-profit group Magic Wheelchair.

The couple founded Magic Wheelchair to help kids in wheelchairs not only fit in at Halloween but to be recognized for their epic costumes.

The Weimer have five children, three of whom were born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. The degenerative disease means their children must use wheelchairs. The family built the first costume, a pirate ship, for their son Keaton in 2008.

Although Ryan Weimer started out just making awesome costumes for his sons, as other parents of kids with disabilities heard about them, he began getting requests from parents around the world to build a wheelchair-transforming costume for their children.

The Wiemers started Magic Wheelchair, a non-profit organization, in 2015 to make more kids’ epic Halloween costume dreams come true. Their vision is to put a smile on the face of every child in a wheelchair by making the custom costume of their dreams at no expense to their family.

The process begins when kids submit a one- to a three-minute video talking about the costume they want and why they should be selected as a recipient by the organization. The group then selects as many as their pool of volunteer builders can handle.

The families then work with designers and builders to bring the child’s imagined costume to life. The organization says the costumes are expensive and time-consuming to build, but are “the coolest costumes in town.”

See photos of costumes from 2016 here, 2015 here, or from the past here.

Having a wheelchair with color choices that make it more personal might be important to a child as well. Intellichair offers several color choices for the best modern motorized wheelchair.

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