Quad with badass knife (and skills)- Adapted cooking equipment

You gotta check out this video of Chris Colwell, a C5-6 quadriplegic who recently moved to Dubai, who has the best knife skills I’ve ever seen a quad possess. Armed with a huge chef’s knife fused to an arm splint (a custom piece of adapted cooking equipment that’s cooler than anything I’ve seen in a OT unit), he’s able to chop up fruits and veggies faster than any sous chef around (ok maybe faster than a beginning line cook), but still, he’s able to cut really fast for a guy who can’t move his fingers.

Watching him deftly chop everything from avocados to finely chopping raspberries (without smashing them at all. ooh) certifiably impressed me, maybe even making me a little jealous. But stupid jealousy aside, Chris has pulled off what we all strive to do when we‘re injured: He’s been able to figure out a way to make what was once easy, then wasn’t because of his injury, easy again. And that is a benefit to all of us as he’s putting it online.

Chris was injured back in 2003 in a skydiving accident. He was a skydiving instructor and broke his neck while trying to help a student who was having troubles further below him, and hit his head at a high speed against the student’s chest when going down to help (eerily, video of the entire accident was recorded on Chris’ camera that was attached to his helmet). A badass then and still a badass now, Chris is refusing to let his injury bottle his spirit, his energy for life, and follows the motto: Life Life Now. And his custom quad knife has all the swagger to prove it.

It’s all about making things easy again. By putting on your inventor’s cap and taking the time to go to the drawing board, finding the gusto to make it happen, and maybe knowing a blacksmith or least someone with primo welding skills, you too can ride on the “damn that’s easy” train once again.

– Watch Chris’ video on SPINALpedia: Quadriplegic Chopping Salad in Dubai

Disclaimer: Knives are dangerous and creating safe adapted equipment is a skill. Use this information at your own risk.

What kind of adapted cooking equipment do you use? Have you made your own adapted cooking equipment or did you buy it?