My name is Rick Bridgeman. I have type 3 spinal muscular atrophy (sma for short) and I haven’t been able to walk since 2016.

I created this website to help document and tell my story as well as what my goals are and what I am trying to do. It is still a work in progress so bear with me as I keep adding content and please look around at all the things I have at least started.

Right now the main focus is on adding to my blog on the My Story tab. In it I discuss a lot of thoughts and challenges that I encounter as a handicap person that a lot of people don’t necessarily think about. Please check it out and subscribe. Feedback is also always welcome and encouraged.

I am out to prove that a handicap person can do the same things as people who are not limited to a wheelchair

I want to be a trendsetter and maybe an inspiration for others to follow their dreams. Being handicap is hard but I want to build things that are handicap accessible. I want to build things like a handicap street rod or a handicap camper. Things that will maybe make the quality of life just a little better and maybe make you feel just a little bit normal. It is something I would like to try to provide, as well as maybe join forces with others that feel the same way as I do about it. I want to help others reach their goals as well as create an environment for other handicap people to feel included.

I have a full time job (I am a draftsman by trade) and I go to work everyday. People tell me all the time how much respect that they have for me for that. Truth is I am really not that much different than anyone else though. I have truck payments and a house payment and an electric and phone bill the same as everyone else. If I didn’t have a job then I would struggle to pay for all of that stuff. I have a good paying job that I am thankful for and honestly I would be able to pay for hobbies on my income if being handicap wasn’t so expensive. I don’t really have any medical bills to speak of, but chairs and beds and lifts and handicap bathrooms and bedrooms are expensive. Perfect example of this is a stand up chair, that is all manual, is $3000. Not something that I have the budget for right now, or maybe even the physical strength for.

If I can get partnered up with the right people and maybe get the right network built, it will help significantly. If not, I will still probably be able to do it in time. My only concern is that my body is constantly getting weaker (hence the term atrophy in the name of my condition), therefore I am trying to push for it now so that I have a better chance of actually being able to use things as later is not guaranteed.

For the most part this website and all the pages will be dedicated to building cool things, but not all of it will be, as I have a few other dreams that will require money that I would like to do and I would hope to be successful enough to make them a reality as well.

Ideally I would partner with the right people and build some cool stuff that I could sell and use to invest in building something else cool. I know this is a niche market and maybe hard to do but I am willing to try and would like to find other people that can help me succeed in this.