Reinventing the wheel is paying off for a disabled Albertan.

Nine years ago, Christian Bagg realized his life was going to change the instant he hit an icy patch during a snowboarding competition at Sunshine Village ski resort near Banff. At the time, the 20-year-old just didn't know by how much.

Today Bagg, a paraplegic as a result of the 1996 spill, has redesigned the traditional wheelchair with the addition of multiple gears, adjustable seating positions and a platform for specialized sports attachments. It has also been designed to reduce repetitive strain injuries and pressure sores in users.

He has been hired by Hamilton-based Stryker Canada, which has just opened a 6,800-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in northeast Calgary to produce the new chairs. The company claims it is the first major redesign of a manual wheelchair in 100 years.

Dave Olecko, Business Edge
Christian Bagg (seated) and Mike Harcourt show off the Sorano wheelchair that will be produced in Calgary.

Stryker Canada, a division of Stryker Corp., is responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution in Canada of the specialty surgical and medical products that are developed and manufactured by its parent, which is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Stryker approached Bagg after hearing of earlier work he did on modifying wheelchairs, purchased the rights to his plans and added Bagg to their design team.

A machinist by trade, Bagg started tinkering with wheelchairs about a year after his accident.

"I guess it would have all started shortly after I broke my back," he recalls. "I'm six-four, and wheelchairs didn't fit me properly. I was forced to make my own."

Bagg adds he had help from friends and, combined with his love of the outdoors, he found the motivation he needed to move forward.

Initially, Bagg's new chair wasn't really that different from others on the market, though it was lighter in weight.

"I sort of only knew what I had seen. But from that chair it became our framework for innovations," he says.

"The world doesn't have disabled access everywhere, but the disabled go everywhere. One of the ways is to write letters to mandate access, but the other way is to use the technology and find ways around it yourself so that it helps you through your day-to-day life instead of hinders you," says Bagg.

"Stryker is excited to be entering the high-end wheelchair market with a product that provides a wide range of freedom never before available for the 40,000 paraplegics and quadriplegics in Canada," says Jeffrey Smith, vice president and general manager for Stryker Canada.

The wheelchair, called the Sorano, features an ultra-light design that includes a linear drive system that the user propels by pushing two handles located above each wheel. The patented technology consists of multiple gears to enable ease of mobility over various terrains. Frame design provides users with adjustability in seating positions, as well as a platform for specialized attachments used in sports and recreational activities.

Manufacturing of the Sorano is already underway, however, the company is phasing in production starting with the wheels. By this August, it plans to produce the actual chair and the drive system is expected to come online in early 2006, at which time buyers will be able to purchase a complete chair.

Bagg expects pricing will be competitive with other wheelchairs on the North American market, with a price range likely between $4,000 and $10,000.

Stryker expects revenues of $2 million in the first 12 to 18 months that the Sorano will be on the market in Canada and the United States. The company then plans to aggressively grow those numbers by 20 per cent a year, says project manager Sabrina Sharpe.

"This (project) is helping demonstrate that Calgary has a broader base of business than just energy and shows the manufacturing side of our community, which has had 70-per-cent growth in the last 10 years," says Bruce Graham, president and CEO for Calgary Economic Development.

"Alberta (specifically Calgary) was selected as the manufacture site because of the strong intellectual expertise, entrepreneurial energy and tremendous support from the economic development team that is synonymous with the spirit of Alberta," adds Stryker Canada's Smith.

Stryker initially relocated Bagg to an research and development facility in Quebec City and then to Toronto. But it was Calgary, where Bagg had excellent contacts and friends, that eventually won out.

Bagg credits friend Mike Harcourt for playing an instrumental role in the creation of the wheelchair. "He's helped with everything and has also been hired by Stryker. I'm back where I want to be with one of the original partners in the design - Mike," says Bagg.

Bagg continues to keep in touch with others in the wheelchair community, adding that their input is invaluable.

Web Watch:
www.cripcollege.com
www.strykersorano.com

(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)