The wind can be one of the most entertaining aspects of nature, and most can agree that one of the best ways to enjoy a windy day is going kiting.  That’s right – good old fashioned kite-flying.

All you need is an open field, a secure way to tie your kite to your wheelchair and a kite of course, and the trouble you can get into is awesome.  Check out these three videos below showing some amazing kite-flying from a wheelchair, as well as a young kid who’s got the right idea with an umbrella.

Our first video definitely belongs in the “awwww” category. It comes from a family in Grand Rapids, Michigan and shows them out on the street in front of their house on a windy day, and you can see one of their family members is a paraplegic.  The purpose of the gathering on the street – to show the fun you can have with an oversized golf umbrella and a manual wheelchair.

When the wind picks up, the young boy in the wheelchair opens an umbrella and before you know it he’s getting pulled down the street – sans pushing (“Look ma, no hands!”).  Much cooler than a parlor trick (heck he’s going 10 miles an hour down the road), check out this brilliant idea here

Our second video meanwhile comes from AbiliTV, a privately owned website and video channel at produces videos for people with disabilities by people with disabilities.  In a video made by the founder of AbiliTV, Jon (a feisty paraplegic with a sense of adventure), watch as he flies a “Utopia” stunt kite, a kite with an advanced bridle system that can go upwards of 20 miles per hour, holding onto two ropes from his chair.

And the video is even cooler because he uses a GoPro camera to catch some awesome angles (the popular camera that attaches to anything).  Nearly half of the video is from the vantage point of the kite in the sky (quite a fascinating thing to see). Check out the video

And in our third video behold one of the coolest things you seen all year – a C2 quadriplegic flying a kite using his chin. This video comes from Randy Haims, a C2 quadriplegic from San Diego, California. It shows the setup involved (making sure the kite is tied strongly to his chair to withhold up to 40 pounds of pulling strength) and shows him at a public park by Mission Beach flying his kite. It’s quite a thing to behold. Watch him fly a kite (and scare joggers as they go by)

One of my favorite memories growing up was going kite-flying (I really need to pick up this hobby again). The wind in your face as you peer up at your brightly colored kite whipping in the wind…. if you’re looking to feel alive, this is it.

Do you still fly kites?  What equipment do you use?

Watch the videos!

- Paraplegic flies a stunt kite at 60 mph

- C2 quad flying a kite with a chin mouth piece

- Young kid using an oversized umbrella to pull himself in the wind

When you were injured, what kind of wheelchair did you get?  A lightweight manual or a powerchair?  Either way, it sure wasn’t a 60 pound steel wheelchair. Times have changed a lot since ancient wheelchairs were made (praise God!), and we have Marilyn Hamilton thank for it, the co-founder of Quickie Wheelchairs.

A driven businesswoman, Marilyn, 63, is without question one of the most successful people with spinal cord injuries in the corporate world.  Her insatiable desire for success is what catapulted her to where she is today, and where she is, is pretty dang exciting.

Why she’s fearless?

Marilyn was born to succeed.  Before her hang gliding accident at age 29 (caused by a personal error), Marilyn was already showing her love of being involved in the community. In 1967 at age 18, she was the National Raisin Queen; a huge award for California girls (and it takes a young woman with a strong personality to get it).

Before her accident, Marilyn was the quintessential California girl addicted to being active. So when she was discharged in her 60 lb. wheelchair, that was when she had the biggest revelation of her life: Why not use hang gliding materials to create an extremely light wheelchair, something that felt like it was part of your body?  And that is how her multimillion dollar company, now known as Sunrise Medical, was born.

After she co-founded Quickie wheelchairs a couple years after accident (with the help of two hang gliding buddies who were handy when it came to engineering), her next goal was to create ultra lightweight sport chairs because she was an athlete herself.  She made one of the first tennis wheelchairs, enabling the person in it to play better than they have ever been able to before.  She also makes mono-skis, bi-skis and sit-down water skis.

Her sport chairs transformed the world of adapted sports, making people finally excited about playing sitting down (it was so hard for many before). Sure, there were plenty of veteran-based adapted games before these chairs were created, but it was not until the 1980s when you really saw a boom in adapted sports, and that is all thanks to Marilyn.  She even used one of her mono-ski chairs to win the silver medal in the 1982 Winter Paralympics.  She also gave tennis a go after her accident (she never played before) and was the National Wheelchair Tennis Singles Champion in both 1982 and 1983. Dang!

In addition to co-founding Quickie Wheelchairs, Marilyn founded Winner On Wheels, to help kids with disabilities find their confidence through sports.  Her dedication to her company won her a Minerva Award in 2006 to; one of the top honors California gives to its most successful and inspiring women (it was doled out by former first Lady Maria Shriver no less).  Marilyn considers this one of her greatest professional accomplishments.

What’s next?

Marilyn has been married twice (she married her high school sweetheart, and is now married to Bob Hamilton, whom she calls ‘Mr. Spectacular’). She also has a beautiful 3,000 square foot home in Fresno, California where she spends half of her time each year, and the rest of the year she’s traveling, giving motivational speeches to companies throughout the world, and pretty much enjoying her comfy laurels.

Quickie continues to be one of the top wheelchair manufacturers in the world (despite new wheelchair companies giving them a run for money).  Who knows, maybe we’ll see one more great invention from the brilliant Marilyn before she retires? Really, books should be written about her business acumen.

Have you founded a company post-injury? Any successful advice?

Watch the videos!

-  The Women’s Conference 2006: Minerva Awards – Marilyn Hamilton (one of the highest honors given to a woman in California each year)

-  Reinventing the Wheelchair (Marilyn teams up w/ a paralyzed model to create designer wheelchairs)