A High School Student Just Invented a Stroller For Moms in Wheelchairs

When you want to take your baby for a stroll, you likely don't have to think much of it — you simply put the baby in a stroller and start walking.

But what if you're a new mom who happens to be wheelchair-bound? Sharon Jones — who lost the use of her legs after being shot when she was just 5 years old — asked herself that very question when she became pregnant. The 35-year-old mom never thought she'd be able to manage a stroller with her new baby.

Then, an industrious high-school student went and built her a custom, adaptable wheelchair stroller.

Alden Kane, a 16-year-old senior at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, began developing the prototype in an engineering class last Spring and worked closely with Jones throughout the design process. Her impending July due date even helped him stay on deadline!

"It was great to meet her and talk to her about what she wants and doesn't want," he told The Michigan Catholic. "Talking to her was a big help, figuring out the workability of the device, where to put a diaper bag, whether or not she could unhook the stroller and how she can move around in the chair."

Now that Jones has been able to use the wheelchair stroller with her own baby, Kane hopes to make the lightweight device — which easily clamps on to a standard wheelchair and can safely hold the weight of an infant in a car seat — accessible to more people in need so that someday, going for a stroll with their babies won't be such an impossible endeavor.