Electric wheelchair tours show Colombian city from new angle

MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) — 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 though 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.

For the equivalent of $25, both people who can and can't walk can get on the electric wheelchairs and take the three-hour tour of the city’s riverside parks, which includes stops at a coffee shop and a bar that does beer tasting. The devices accelerate quickly and can reach speeds of 30 kph (19 mph).

“We think this will be a winning proposal in terms of education and inclusion,” said company founder Martín Londoño.

The tours started in October and their routes are still being adjusted. Londoño said he wanted to offer them earlier this year but had to delay the launch due to the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions imposed by the Colombian government, which were lifted in September.

The hand-cycles, built and designed with the help of local bike workshops, are...