Invacare sends 97 wheelchairs to Afghan veterans

NORTH RIDGEVILLE - Nearly 100 wheelchairs bound for Afghanistan were loaded onto a FedEx truck Monday at the Invacare distribution center.

Invacare, a medical product company based in Elyria, donated 97 chairs to the United States Army for use by Afghan soldiers wounded in the war. These soldiers do not have the same access to medical care that American soldiers do.

The company works with Paralyzed Veterans of America, an organization that works in the interest of veterans with spinal cord injuries, as well as other veterans groups. Army contacts seeking the wheelchairs got in touch with Invacare.

"This type of donation is not frequent," said Lara Mahoney, Invacare's manager of corporate communications. The company has made donations in the past to Easter Seals and Wheels of Hope, an Akron-based nonprofit that refurbishes and distributes used medical equipment.

"It's almost 100 vets we're able to help," Mahoney said. "That's pretty great."

FedEx provided free shipping of the wheelchairs from Invacare to Kabul, Afghanistan.

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