For many of us, the hardest part of going to Arroyo Burro Beach in Santa Barbara is finding a parking spot.
For people who use wheelchairs, the challenges are more than just petty annoyances. It can be just about impossible to move a wheelchair on top of sand.
Steve Schulz, a wheelchair user for more than 20 years, overcame that obstacle on Sunday with the help of a specially fitted chair from the local NatureTrack Foundation.
“Standard wheelchairs just aren’t made for going on rough terrain, grass, sand, so it’s a joy to be able to get down onto the beach when you are in a wheelchair,” Schulz said. “It’s something you normally can’t do.”
Schulz, 64, started using a wheelchair after he he was shot in the back during a carjacking attempting in Los Angeles. He fought off the attacker, who fled when he realized the truck he was trying to steal was a manual transmission and he couldn’t drive one.
The NatureTrack organization helped six individuals in wheelchairs access Arroyo Burro Beach on Sunday.
Nature Track connects kids to nature and helps people with disabilities access and explore beaches and trails from San Luis Obispo to Ventura.
With the device called “Freedom Trax,” a manual wheelchair can be transformed into a battery-powered all-terrain vehicle “that can easily traverse beach sand and trails,” and is equipped with a more versatile track system to glide over obstacles.
The individuals, with help from aides, rolled along the beach sand, among the hundreds of other sunbathers and swimmers.
Sue Eisaguirre started the organization in 2011 mostly as a kindergarten-through-12th grade program, offering field trips during the traditional school day. Eventually she transitioned to helping people who use wheelchairs, too.
She wrote grants to obtain funding for the Freedom Trax, with the goal of helping more people experience nature.
“We take for granted so much with what we can do, just walking to the water’s edge. But they can’t even be on the sand,” Eisaguirre
The units will also go on trails.
Eisaguirre founded the organization while working at the UCSB Sedgewick Reserve,
“It was the desire to reach more people,” she said. “It’s just about getting people outdoors.”
Among those who enjoyed the beach and sand on Sunday was Brian Maclaren, who has cerebral palsy and has been in a wheelchair his entire life.
He remembers as a child having to crawl on the beach.
“It’s opened up a whole new world for people who use wheelchairs,” Maclaren said. “We have access to the sand. It’s remarkable.”
“I have never been able to get down to the water and be independent down at the water before,” said Maclaren, 58. “It’s pretty incredible.”
Maclaren has lived in Santa Barbara since the early 1980s.
“It’s a nice day,” he said. “I feel blessed to be out here.”
For more information on the NatureTrack Foundation and the work it does connecting people to nature, call 805.886.2047 or email sue@naturetrack.org.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
