A 79-year-old has designed an e-bike wheelchair to overcome the monster effort of pushing his wife up the hilly terrain along New Plymouth's coastal walkway.
Kevin Harvey attached a wheelchair to the front of his electric bike so he can pedal his wife Beverley around the Coastal Walkway in New Plymouth. Photo: Stuff / Andy MacDonald
Designer of the e-bike wheelchair Kevin Harvey thought having his wife Bev, who is 89 and has dementia, at the front of the bike would be easier.
"If you ever had pushed the wheelchair along a lot and then you got an upward slope, it's really tough and that happened quite a few times," Kevin said.
Because of this he decided to tinker and create an e-bike fitted to their needs, all so she could see the ocean she loves.
The couple live right on the New Plymouth coastal walkway and like to enjoy the scenery together, especially when the tides are in.
Kevin explained how he made some clever alterations to the frame of his e-bike to connect it to Bev's wheelchair.
"That's a full fold-up wheelchair in the front, but you can't fold it up now and the electric bike has got the front stem altered so it's not facing forward but it's more plum or back.
"The forks go down and connect to a bottom rail down across between the two parts that stick out on the wheelchair."
"She loves it in the way that she's got other people to say g'day to all the time" - Kevin Harvey
The design even allows him to remove a few nuts and pins for the wheelchair to operate in a more conventional manner.
He had fitted a seat belt in the wheelchair and said he was getting Bev a helmet as well.
Kevin Harvey's e-bike wheelchair invention with his wife Bev in the front. Photo: Facebook / Kevin Harvey
He said she loved how the invention allowed her to see even more people when she was out and about.
"She loves it in the way that she's got other people to say g'day to all the time.
"Bev used to be real shy once, now with dementia she's the opposite," he laughed.
"She's always saying 'have a good walk, have a good ride' and I enjoy myself actually," Harvey said.
Harvey said he would not want to push his e-bike creation past 20km/h but this suited Bev as she did not have a need for speed.
He said he took Bev out for a ride on the bike whenever it was fine outside and there was no wind.
Despite his tinkering talents, Kevin said he had no history in engineering, although he worked as a carpenter and in the construction of the New Plymouth power station.