Learning to live

MOSES LAKE - Jared Schlehuber is confident he will walk again and confident he will change the world.

"I already know people are going to know who Jared Schlehuber is," he said.

The 25-year-old paraplegic is working to make the lives of others like him easier through welding.

Schlehuber joined the Big Bend Community College welding program in fall 2004, but he put his education on hold after a car accident took away the ability to use his legs. He started his education again at Big Bend last winter and has embraced a new purpose of helping other paraplegics.

"We're going to make Jared start his own business," said his instructor Shawn McDaniel.

Schlehuber is designing a bicycle for wheelchair-bound individuals, as part of an independent study class. Although similar bicycles exist, they require the rider to leave their wheelchair. His design would allow a person to board the bicycle while remaining on their wheelchair.

Schlehuber said the idea came about because he does not currently drive and wanted to go to the grocery store.

"It just kind of popped into my head, 'How can I make this easier?'" he said.

He is planning to patent the design and has been exploring other inventions as well. When his project is complete, he would like to sell the design or sell the product.

"For somebody that doesn't have the use of their legs, it's another tool," McDaniel said.

He said Schlehuber's invention is beneficial to Schlehuber and to others.

Schlehuber said he takes life more seriously after the accident. He considered himself a partyer before the accident, which happened in March 2005.

Schlehuber and a passenger traveled a gravel road in Royal City at 70 miles per hour. The road was not well maintained and unfamiliar to him, he said. The vehicle hit a big dip in the road and became airborne. After landing, it became airborne again. During the accident, Schlehuber was thrown from the vehicle. He awoke in a field.

His friend, who was wearing a seat belt, did not have any major injuries.

He remembers not being able to feel his legs, and knowing instantly what had happened.

"I kept trying to get up," Shlehuber said. "My friend told me to lay there, and he went to the neighbor's house. Then it started raining."

Suffering five broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken back, Shlehuber was transported by ambulance to the hospital. At first, he was unable to sit up or bend.

"I had to learn to live all over again," Schlehuber said.

He spent seven weeks in physical therapy at St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute in Spokane.

In winter 2007, he rejoined the welding program.

"I didn't like where I was," Schlehuber said. "I just got tired of doing nothing, basically, and it was just time to get my life started again."

McDaniel said Schlehuber is a more serious student now compared with when he first started the welding program in 2004, when Schlehuber seemed to have other priorities.

"He wasn't terribly focused on his studies," he said.

McDaniel believes Schlehuber has learned a lot as a result of his experience. He came back with a stronger focus, determined to finish the program, McDaniel said.

"You've gone in, and you have this idea, and you're driven," McDaniel told Schlehuber during the interview.

Schlehuber is driven not only in his education, but in his intention to walk.

"I should be walking right now, as far as I'm concerned," he said.

He is practicing using walking braces and sees improvement every time he uses them.

Columbia Physical Therapy physical therapist Steve Roylance first mentioned the idea of using walking braces, Schlehuber said.

"He looked at me, and he was like, 'You're going to walk again,'" Schlehuber remembers.

In addition to regaining his mobility, the future for Schlehuber includes continuing to invent devices for the handicapped, finishing the welding program and expanding his education to include business and computer classes.

The welding program gives Schlehuber a chance to use the skills God gave him, he said.

"I almost want to say it gives me a reason to wake up in the morning," Schlehuber said.