NPR

Mexico And U.S. Team Up To Create Low-Cost Wheelchairs

A retired U.S. doc and a Mexican engineer co-founded a nonprofit group that is providing wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs at an affordable price.
Gabriel Zepeda (right) makes an all-terrain wheelchair. He's been making wheelchairs for low-income Mexicans for 27 years.

Political tension between the United States and Mexico is making headlines with talk of disrupting longstanding trade deals and constructing a border wall.

And then there's the story of Antonio Garcia.

A mechanic from southern Sonora, he had been limping around on crutches for three years. His right leg was amputated below the knee after a motorcycle accident and buying a prosthetic leg was beyond his financial reach.

But he got the prosthesis just this January from a nonprofit that's and it's working to transform the lives of low-income Mexicans with disabilities. The organization, whose name is an acronym that stands for Arizona/Sonora border, provides affordable prosthetics, specialized wheelchairs and hearing aids.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min readCrime & Violence
After Two Boeing 737 Max Crashes, Families Are Still Seeking Answers From DOJ
More than five years after two 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people, families of the victims are still pushing the Justice Department to hold Boeing accountable. They're frustrated by the response.
NPR5 min read
Netflix's 'Baby Reindeer': A Dark, Haunting Story Bungles Its Depiction Of Queerness
The new series, based on creator and star Richard Gadd's one-man show, depicts queer sexuality as something that happens to people.
NPR1 min readInternational Relations
Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry Has Resigned As A Transitional Council Takes Over
Haiti's de facto prime minister, Ariel Henry, has formally stepped down and a new transitional council has been sworn in. Finance chief Michel Patrick Boisvert is the new interim prime minister.

Related Books & Audiobooks