The acronym for Wheel Chair Moto Cross is of course WCMX and although it may sound extreme, Timothy Lachlan’s approach to it is more inclusive than it sounds. As the first Australian to do a wheelchair backflip in the WCMX realm, he’s pretty darn capable, but through the sport has recognised a broader application for the skills he’s learnt along the way.
Since 14 years of age Tim has used crutches and a wheel chair for mobility due to low muscle tone and joint hypermobility from the waist down. Setting his sights high, he chanced a meeting with the talented “Wheelz” (Aaron Fotheringham) of Nitro Circus fame and was instantly star struck. That meeting seems a sort of turning point if you will, leading him down the WCMX path and beyond …
After spending lot of his life being “the only wheel chair skater at the skatepark” he started reaching out to other wheelchair users in his community (Far North Qld at the time) to encourage them to come and see what his version of WCMX was all about…
“The skills WCMX has taught me have helped me greatly in everyday mobility; I can get up and down curbs, stairs and steep ramps.”
After navigating some community resistance and developing these skills, he now teaches wheel chair users how to do a 12-foot drop-in on a skate ramp and even wheel chair backflips, if they choose that path, but otherwise the sessions are there to provide everyday mobility tips like getting up and down curbs, stairs and steep ramps.
According to Tim, these workshops were created out of the idea that “Basic mobility skills give people the tools they need to overcome a society that’s not traditionally built for them.”
He is studying Occupational Therapy on the Gold Coast and once registered, he wants to continue raising awareness about the importance of making social spaces accessible for everyone as well as start his own business that uses skating and wheel chair skating as Occupational Therapy!
Take a look at a bit more of Tim’s story:
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