Lift for wheelchair footplates

Daniel has significant leg length discrepancy -- somewhere in the 2 inch range right now. His shoes and braces are custom made to accommodate that -- but who wants to wear shoes and braces ALL the time, specially in summer?

Hence our problem.

The wheelchair footplates are set for his needs when in full shoes and braces. But for those times when he's just wearing sandals, slippers, socks, or barefoot -- his left leg is nowhere near being supported on the footplate, and poor positioning and posture ensue. And with CP, positioning is key.

So this little solution, by no means high-tech or fancy, has saved the day.

What you are seeing:

I used a foam puzzle mat that has seen better days (note evidence of cat sharpening her claws). These can be found at toy stores, Target, or even at big box home improvement stores as floor mats. Cheap source of heavy duty high density foam.








I cut several blocks of foam to fit inside the footplate, and I taped the layers together with packing tape until I got a sufficiently thick piece.

Originally, I just put adhesive backed velcro on the bottom of the foam piece, with the fuzzy velcro side on the footplate. It works, but it's kind of tatty looking. And frequent putting off and on left the velcro worn.










So I sewed a sleeve out of "tough tex" fabric, with box cushion construction, wrapped the foam block in high loft quilt batting, and slipped it inside the black tough tex cover, with velcro to close. I left enough fabric so that I can enlarge the sleeve if he needs a thicker lift in the future. The entire contraption is held onto the footplate with a double sided velcro strap. Easy on, easy off. And doesn't call attention to itself.








And yes, I do know that some wheelchairs have quick adjust footplates, for just such situations as ours. But it's not an available option on this model.