In 2016, Kevan Chandler and a few of his friends took a trip across Europe. Kevan’s friends carried him—literally. Kevan has spinal muscular atrophy, type 2, a disease that renders him unable to walk. But he left his wheelchair behind, and his friends carried him in a specially designed backpack, giving him access to many more places than a wheelchair could go. Kevan has told the story of that remarkable trip in a memoir called We Carry Kevan, and now in a picture book with the same title.
Besides being a writer and world traveler, Kevan Chandler heads up an organization called We Carry Kevan, which fosters a culture of creative accessibility by collaborating with families with disabilities around the world–sharing Kevan’s story to encourage and inspire, distributing specially designed carrier backpacks, and having ongoing conversations about friendship and new ideas for customized access.
