For Vhan McGuire, the outdoors had gone out of reach. Then a group of Tennessee Tech engineering students built something that changed that.

McGuire, a college architecture student, loved hiking, camping and spending time in nature before a motorcycle accident in October 2024 left him paralyzed and sharply limited where he could go.

“A regular wheelchair struggles on any surface that isn’t hard and flat,” McGuire explained.

A friend later introduced him to engineering students at Tennessee Tech who were looking for a challenging project. Braden Hopper, John Avery and Luke White took it on and built a custom all-terrain wheelchair they call “The Chariot.”

The chair is designed to handle outdoor environments McGuire once thought were out of reach. Thanks to their work, he is now able to get back to the activities he loves.

“Now, having a piece of equipment that can go anywhere and that I feel comfortable with is a blessing,” McGuire said. “This gets me back to what I loved doing and how I loved living before my accident.”

He put its impact even more simply.

“It gives me back my legs.”