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| Contributed photo Rep. Bernard Ayotte (R-Caswell) meets with Percy Madore of Van Buren who has developed a device to help handicapped individuals secure adequate parking space for wheelchair ramp equipped vehicles. |
By Rep. Bernard Ayotte
Special to the Aroostook Republican
Percy Madore of Van Buren became a paraplegic after he was injured in a logging accident in the northern Maine woods several years ago.
He became sick and tired of thoughtless people who parked right next to his elevator equipped van whenever he would go somewhere to shop or conduct business. Many times he would be unable to re-enter his van until the person moved his or her vehicle. Two Christmases ago, on a very cold evening, he came out of Walmart only to find that someone had parked their vehicle directly in the wheelchair deployment area. Percy became extremely cold while waiting for that person to come out and move his vehicle so Percy could get into his van.
Another incident occurred when Percy was at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. In that particular case, Percy had even made a conscious effort to secure his parking space by placing an orange safety cone right next to his van. When he came out from his appointment, Percy discovered that someone had moved his cone and took the parking space anyway. This was when Percy became so frustrated with people taking his wheelchair deployment space that he decided something had to be done and he was going to be the one to do it.
Percy invented a telescoping rod that can be attached to the van door handle and crosses the wheel chair deployment area, thereby creating a barrier, preventing anyone from parking near his van and also sends a message to all people to be more thoughtful about parking in wheelchair accessible areas. He hopes his invention will help other handicapped people throughout the state.
