Those in wheelchairs that want to maintain their independence are sharply limited in their option of vehicles. Their chief option is a minivan that has been converted with a lift gate that will allow them to roll in through the rear of the vehicle and up to the steering wheel. But Steve Kitchin, who was rendered quadriplegic following a car accident, was not happy with this.

After years of being an avid sportsman, I wasn’t ready to trade in my SUV for a minivan. Instead, I forced my wife to help me transfer into my SUV for the next 6 months. I worked extra hours in the weight room hoping to gain enough strength to transfer on my own, but it just wasn’t happening. Eventually, my wife had had enough and I traded in my SUV for a wheelchair conversion van.

After 8 years of driving my minivan, it was falling apart and needed to be replaced. I started shopping around, but just couldn’t bring myself to buy another minivan. That is when I called an engineer friend of mine and said, “You have to help me get in a truck.”

That was five years ago. Kitchin, his engineer pal and several friends helped them build it. The vehicle was a success, and today Kitchin runs All-Terrain Conversions, an Indiana-based operation that converts trucks and SUVs into completely wheelchair-accessible vehicles that can be entered from the side. Gullwing doors keep the rain off, and the high clearance of the Suburbans, Escalades, Yukons and Silverados they convert is not an issue; their lifts can load or unload in under 30 seconds.

Kitchin runs ATC alongside other wheelchair users--people who can appreciate the product as much as Kitchin himself. "The first day I was able to drive my new truck, I couldn’t stop smiling and I felt like I had gotten a piece of myself back," Kitchin writes. "Since then, I have used my truck to haul things, help a friend move, tow a trailer and plow through 2 feet of snow to pull someone out of a ditch. It feels good to be able to help myself and others."