【Sunrise Quickie: A Wheelchair Brand Born from an Accident】
The Founding Story of Quickie Wheelchairs
"Independence is a right everyone should have in their lives."
— Marilyn Hamilton
The Sunrise Quickie wheelchair brand was originally founded by sports enthusiast Marilyn Hamilton and two friends. In 1978, she had an accident while paragliding in California. Although the accident took away Marilyn's legs, it did not take away her passion for sports and her desire for self-control.
Using inspiration drawn from paragliding, she and her friends invented a lightweight and responsive sports wheelchair (pictured below), and founded the Quickie wheelchair company. The latest Quickie Q50R Carbon inherits the DNA of a sports wheelchair, making it both lightweight and robust.
Product Innovation
This sports wheelchair was one of the earliest "ultralight" wheelchairs. Inspired by the aircraft industry, it utilized lightweight aluminum and improved maneuverability, revolutionizing the distance and speed wheelchair users could travel in the early 1980s. Marilyn Hamilton used this wheelchair to win championships in tennis competitions.
"Quickie wheelchairs enabled me to rediscover the life I love—playing tennis in the summer and skiing in the winter."
— Marilyn Hamilton
Athletic Achievements in a Wheelchair
Quickie wheelchairs accompanied Marilyn Hamilton in achieving numerous remarkable athletic accomplishments: the 1982 U.S. Open Wheelchair Tennis Singles Champion and the 1983 U.S. Open Wheelchair Tennis Singles Champion. In 1988, she won a silver medal at the Winter Paralympics in Innsbruck in the Women's Slalom LW10 competition with a time of 1:39.48, not only breaking physical barriers but also becoming an advocate for wheelchair sports.
Brand Influence
Combining her own athletic habits and a thorough understanding of people with disabilities, Marilyn Hamilton created one high-quality and fully functional wheelchair after another, allowing Quickie to stand strong to this day, becoming a renowned professional wheelchair brand in the industry.
