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Motorists and pedestrians took second and third glances yesterday as Terrick Virgo ‘drove’ his motorised wheelchair.

The ‘vehicle’ that has been the sound selector’s mode of transportation for the past few months has been making his life much easier since he was paralysed in 2006.

“Mi always waan put a engine under mi wheelchair because a 13 years now mi inna it and mi get tired for people a push mi around or mi a wheel it myself. Every minute mi use to catch bed sores and it really painful, so mi just know say mi had to do something to make mi move faster and more independently. So the idea just came to my mind to build a motorised wheelchair,” he said.

Virgo’s chair uses parts of a scooter, including the engine, and a small gas tank that’s easy on his pockets at the gas station. He told THE STAR that he became paralysed after being electrocuted.

“I had just got laid off from my job for two months and decided that I was going to do something to occupy time. I purchased a weed whacker and lawn mower and say I am going to cut trees and so on,” he said.

He got a job but said he didn’t realise the trees he was trimming were entangled with high tension wires.

“As a make the first chop on the limb and that was it. The cutlass stick on to my hand middle and mi just see a blue flame a run and come ‘lick’mi,” he said.

To compound matters, two years ago, Virgo, whose story was carried in THE STAR, was further hampered when he was shot three times, allegedly by a policeman who was firing at someone else.

The Whitehall Avenue resident explained how burdensome it was to travel to and from his gigs using a ‘regular’ wheelchair.

“Everytime mi have to take taxi so mi realise say mi nah make no money because mi can’t ‘wheel’ to go a the place dem. Sometimes it take mi hours to reach weh mi a go and sometimes all daylight come catch mi on the road. Mi wheel sometimes until mi hands get blisters,” he said.

Money is an issue

He stated that he has two other wheelchairs that he is hoping to build for other persons but money is an issue.

“Mi go up a Mona Rehab recently and everyone wish to have something like this but something like this can be really expensive because wheelchairs are very expensive and then there is the scooter bike. $200 worth of gas carry mi go town and come back a Whitehall Avenue,” he said.

Virgo said it has been much trial and error with the chair.

“The first time mi go on it, it fling mi off. A nuff time it all broke down a road on mi but mi fren who have a bike always ride and come help me out. Mi just wa little help with building this thing and mi music business because mi really love it. A from 1994 mi a play music,” he said.

Virgo said he specialises in ‘old hits’ and ‘big people music’.

“I play at parties, weddings and so on. Mi play young people dancehall music, enuh, but mi nuh too like it because mi can’t really gravitate towards the type of music they are releasing now. I play it because it is my job still,” he said.