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.
Mazinke, who was a hot day in June, said, “This has been an incredible experience. I’ve never felt or seen anything like it in so many years.”
“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. The balloon wheels make it very simple.
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.
Beach Explorer, priced at just over $3,000 is the priciest item available on the site.
Many are priced under $50. They are intended to aid people who are unable to use their arms or hands in a variety of ways, from holding cups and opening doors to hitting golf balls.
“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.
He wasn’t focused solely on accessibility.
He had been planning to work as a design engineering for an agricultural firm during his time at University of Manitoba.
When I was hurt, it was like having my life turned on its head. It was hard to know where you fit into the world.
To perform his daily tasks, he used a variety of mobility and assistive technologies. 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.
He said, “I would say that my primary role is just to enable Corey bring any ideas he may have to life.”
“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.”
All wheelchairs are available in beach wheelchairs
Mazinke has already set his sights high despite the fact that C5 Mobility’s website was only launched this month.
The Manitoba Lakes beach wheelchairs will be available one day.
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 is hopeful that the province’s future will be bright.
I believe that it would be an important step in improving accessibility for our entire province.”
David Kron is the executive director of Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba. He’s also a member of Barrier-Free Manitoba’s steering committee.
He’d love to see Manitoba wheelchairs on all the beaches in Manitoba.
“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.”