OFFROAD, a word that is taboo for all those in a wheelchair...

Through a sports seminar, I became aware of a tetraplegic named Tommy Andersson from Sweden. Initially, he came across as a small, shy and quiet person. However, when I heard about his work, I was quickly forced to change my opinion.

Tommy formed his own company “Woodstar” in Töcksfors in Sweden and devoted himself fully and with a great deal of passion to the subject of mobility for handicapped people – by mobility, however, he means mobility away from the road! As a tetraplegic, he naturally developed a specific feeling for the technology required to develop a machine such as his “Woodstar”. In any case, he aroused my interest and it was not long before I visited him in his workshop; in typical Swedish style, this is situated idyllically in rolling hills and on a magnificent lake.

I could hardly wait for the first trial run with this infernal machine, but how was I supposed to get in?
I quickly noticed that Tommy had thought about everything and it soon became apparent that the “Woodstar“ is a completely high-tech machine in which everything that makes life easier for those in a wheelchair has been taken into account.
The seat can be lowered electrically to entrance height, the control elements are all equipped with servo support, steering, acceleration and braking require absolutely no strength whatsoever and are controlled with electronic potentiometers. Everything was so easy that at first I even over-steered the device; however, I soon found my routine and, for the first time in my almost 40 years in a wheelchair, I drove out into nature and indeed really OFFROAD!

Tommy took me to the most remote areas, to the beaches of the lakes, through the moss mats of the forests, everything was an unbelievably moving experience. For the first time, I was again able to smell wild herbs, blueberries and the forest with such proximity and intensity. This developed more than just a newly gained joie de vivre. After all, even a meeting with an elk is something unique.

The “Woodstar” is a device which not only guarantees access to rough terrain for people in wheelchairs because it also masters extreme inclines and moves over stick and stone in the literal sense of the phrase. “Woodstar” creates a joie de vivre that is difficult to describe. Ever since that time, I have been the proud owner of a Woodstar which offers me a new form of freedom and quality of life. The best acquisition of my life.

There are even C5-tetras who can operate a “Woodstar”. Their completely immovable arms are fixed to their thighs and they use a blow tube to issue the commands for acceleration and braking. A rigid rod – which is fixed to the driver’s helmet and drives a servo motor - enables C5-tetras to control the “Woodstar” by moving their head!
Unbelievable, but I have experienced it for myself and drove right through the woods with John, a tetra C5 from England, and we were not going slowly!

Tommy Andersson has carried out valuable development work for us. I have utilised his innovation using the blow tube for changing gear in my racing car – this was the only thing that made changing gear possible for me at all.

Tommy Andersson is an exceptional personality. His website at www.woodstar.se is in Swedish, English and German. I wish him continued success! Since his encounter, OFFROAD has ceased to be a taboo for people in wheelchairs.

Rainer Küschall