Wilson Guzmán lost the use of his legs at age 17 when he was shot in the back while trying to recover a stolen bicycle in his hometown of Medellin, Colombia. Two decades later, he glides through the city’s streets using an electric hand-bike attached to the front of his wheelchair. He recently gave a tour of Medellin’s parks to seven people who followed him down bike lanes and up steep hills on similar vehicles.
“Every person who gets on these wheelchairs leaves with a smile,” said Guzmán. “They also learn what it’s like to be in the shoes of someone with a disability.”
The wheelchair tours that Guzman leads once a week are the latest tourist attraction in a city that is slowly shedding its reputation for drug violence and has become one of Colombia’s most visited destinations.
They’re organized by MATT — which stands for Mobility, Accessibility, Time and Work — a start-up founded last year that aims to create jobs for people with disabilities.
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