This Manitoba engineer suffered a spinal cord injury 4 years ago. Now he's using his skills to help others
Engineer's products, like beach-ready wheelchair, could be 'game-changer,' disability advocate says
Not long ago, going to the beach seemed virtually impossible for Manitoba engineer Corey Mazinke, who uses a wheelchair after a spinal cord injury four years ago.
Earlier this week, though, the 27-year-old wheeled onto the beach at St. Malo Provincial Park in a specialized wheelchair of his own creation — a stainless steel frame with UV- and water-resistant seating and balloon wheels meant to roll easily on soft sand.
"This is such an amazing experience, because I haven't felt this way or been in a setting like this in many years," Mazinke said as he rolled into the cool waters of the lake at the park, about 65 kilometres south of Winnipeg, on a hot June day.
"It's smooth, hey?" said Mazinke's girlfriend, Hali Arsenault. "You wouldn't be able to do that with a stroller, with a wheelchair, with a wagon — nothing. It's very easy with the balloon wheels."
The specialized wheelchair, which Mazinke calls the Beach Explorer, is one of many products he has designed on his computer and brought to life using a 3D printer and the help of friends and business partners.
His company, C5 Mobility — named after the vertebra he injured in a diving accident in 2019 — recently launched a website offering adaptive products meant to help others navigate daily living with a little more ease and independence.
At just shy of $3,000, the Beach Explorer is by far the most expensive item on the company's website.
Most are less than $50 and are meant to help people who have minimal use of their hands and arms do everything from open doors to hold cups to hit a golf ball.
"I want people to benefit from the stuff that we make, and I want them to be … more efficient in their lives, quicker with daily tasks, have more fun, be able to access different events or settings that they wouldn't be able to before," said Mazinke.
But he wasn't always focused on improving accessibility.
During his education at the University of Manitoba prior to his accident, he had planned to become a design engineer for an agricultural company.
"When I was injured, my life was kind of thrown upside down and I had to figure out where I fit in," he said.
He found himself using a lot of assistive technology and mobility devices to do everyday tasks. But there were gaps.
"My brain was always kind of working out how these things work and how they can be better, and how maybe I could make something that would benefit my life more — so it was kind of a natural progression," Mazinke said.
Business partner and friend Jamie Van der Linde helps out wherever needed.
"I'd say my main role is to just enable Corey to bring whatever ideas he has to life," he said.
"What he wants to do and what he's best at is being creative on the computer.… I kind of want to help manage everything that he doesn't want to do on the back end of the business."
Beach wheelchairs for all
C5 Mobility just launched its website this month, but Mazinke already has his sights set high.
He hopes that one day, beach accessible wheelchairs are available at every Manitoba lake.
A spokesperson for the provincial government said there are currently no modified wheelchairs at Manitoba beaches, but there are mobility mats for water access at Bakers Narrows, Birds Hill, Clearwater Lake, Duck Mountain, Grand Beach, Hecla, Lundar Beach, Rainbow Beach, Spruce Woods, Whiteshell and Winnipeg Beach provincial parks.
Mazinke hopes the province will soon make a change.
"I think that would be a big step forward for the accessibility of our province as a whole."
David Kron, the executive director of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba and a member of the steering committee for Barrier-Free Manitoba, says he's aware of European beach wheelchairs that are nearly double the cost of Mazinke's.
He would love to see Manitoba-made wheelchairs at all of the province's beaches.
"It's really going to be a game-changer as far as making the world more accessible and making it so that we can all participate in the community in a meaningful way," he said.
Kron says everyone will be affected by disability at one point in their life, whether that means they break a bone, suffer a life-changing accident like Mazinke or lose mobility in their later years.
"So all these things are tools, if nothing else, to make you live in your home and live independently, and make life just a little bit easier."
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