The first no finger paddle breaks
In 2015, I met a great group of industrial designers and makers that were gathered by the TOM Makers organizations. Their mission is to help people with disabilities find tailored made solutions to different causes. I really wanted to ride my bicycle and be independent again; the only problem was that I didn’t have fingers in both hands to stop break the bicycle and change up or down my gear. I pitched them, and in a 72 hour hackathon we designed the first no finger paddle breaks and paddle gear switcher prototype! It works really simple like our car driving paddle break. When I press down with my arm force the break works- same thing with the gear switcher. This new invention allows anyone with a limiation such as mine to enjoy riding their bicycle again and it's a really great feeling knowing that my limb loss is helping to spark ideas and create world wide solutions.
