Kevan Chandler has always wanted to tour Europe and with the help of his friends, his wish is granted despite being handicapped.
Three years ago, a doctor told Kevan Chandler that due to his muscular dystrophy, he would be connected to an oxygen machine in the next six months.
The doctor turns out to be dead wrong because today, not only Kevan breathes freely, but the young man of 29 years is living the dream of many young people of 20 years: hiking in Europe but in an unusual way: Kevan, who weighs 65 kilos and moves with the help of a wheelchair, is attached to the backs of his friends using a personalized pack during their tours in France, England and Ireland. During the trip, the group hopes to visit famous places such as catacombs, ancient monasteries and see breathtaking views. This way, Kevan will be able to have an experience he is ‘sure never to forget’.
Handicapped since birth with a muscular spinal atrophy that affects the motor muscles and nervous system, drastically reducing the motor neurons’ functionning of people who suffer from this condition, Kevan has always dreamed of a road trip with his friends.
That’s how they created a GoFundMe page they called “We Carry Kevan” to finance their trip to Europe . First, Samois-sur-Seine, France, the former home of Django Reinhardt, a guitarist who invented a new style of jazz to accommodate his distorted hands, which were burned in a fire: “I discovered Reinhardt in high school and that was about when my hands got weaker, he thrived despite his disability,” Kevan said.
Kevan’s condition is degenerative, affecting the skeletal muscles that control movement, and there is no known cure. But like his idol, he remains defiant: “My philosophy is to keep moving forward,” he said.
In June 2016, they took a flight to Paris, leaving behind them the wheelchair of Kevan in Atlanta airport. Then, they spent several weeks exploring the cities of Europe: in France, England and Ireland in particular.
That’s when they realized the major problem of accessibility for impaired people, something they have denounced on their website.
During the journey, four friends took continuously turns in carrying Kevan, while two others took in charge filming and photographing their trip that they shared on social networks:
“We are all broken in some way or another, and so we all need our burdens to be held up and carried by each other, and the only way that’s going to happen is if we help each other out, and that requires sacrifice of self,” he said.
Chandler will be back at Fortezza after the trip to write a book about the experience. The We Carry Kevan team wants to produce a documentary film and music of their European adventure.
Do you have friends who would do something like this for you? Let us know in the comments.
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