Happy trails

Palmer man helping handicapped get on road

Sept. 2, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Palmer resident Pat Delia found himself struggling more than usual when his 13-year-old son, Luke, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and uses an electric wheelchair, had a growth spurt.

Suddenly, taking car rides became a seemingly insurmountable burden.

Even though Delia had converted a 1999 Dodge Caravan to make it more wheelchair accessible, his son had almost outgrown the space provided by the raised roof. Delia, who suffered a crushed heel from falling off the roof of a home he was building, had to swing Luke out of his 400-pound electric wheelchair and climb up the ramp to place Luke in the less-convenient manual wheelchair. Or, he'd wrestle with the electric wheelchair so it would be available for his son later.

"You find yourself not doing simple things like going to the grocery store," Delia said.

Life became more streamlined with the purchase of a 2003 Chrysler Town and Country wheelchair-accessible van.

"Now, going somewhere is a piece of cake," Delia said.

Delia is hoping to extend that pleasure to disabled people or their caregivers who face challenges when traveling on the road in Alaska. The Town and Country rig joined a candy-apple-red 2002 Dodge Caravan to bring to two a fleet of rental vehicles belonging to Delia's new business, Access Vans of Alaska.

Both vehicles are designed to allow the handicapped person either to drive or ride along as a passenger.

When Delia discovered that Alaska lacked wheelchair-accessible vans for rent, the wheels in his head started spinning.

He remembered a trip in 2000 to Walt Disney World, a gift from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. On that trip, Wheelchair Getaways, a national franchise, provided the wheelchair his son used during their vacation.

Delia jumped on the opportunity to fill a need in the community, providing wheelchair-accessible vans for rent.

"There's a lot of different reasons people might need a rental," Delia said. "Maybe you have family coming to visit for a week and you need it for that time. Or, say you own a wheelchair-accessible vehicle now, and you get in a wreck. Your insurance allows you to rent one. Someone could be getting out of the hospital and might need to be in a wheelchair for a while."

When he looked into starting his own business, Delia used Wheelchair Getaways as the springboard. Shipping items in and out of Alaska is rather pricey, so Delia decided he could sell the rentals over five years old to Alaskans. Wheelchair Getaways' policies include not renting out vehicles that have been in service for more than five years.

Finding insurance was another obstacle.

"I couldn't find anyone up here to insure them because it's such a specialized type of vehicle," Delia said.

He said it helped to get insurance through the parent company, which also has its own Web site, guiding vacationers to rental vans in each state.

Since March, Access Vans of Alaska has sold a half-dozen vans specially fitted for wheelchair users. This summer, in August, when the rentals were finally insured, Delia dropped off both his vehicles in a 12-hour period. Delia delivers the vans directly to the customer.

"The day we had our first rental, one went to Anchorage at 1 a.m.. Then, my work took me to Eagle River at 6 a.m. The other van needed to be in Fairbanks by 3 p.m.," Delia said.

"It was a crazy day, dad. You were exhausted," Luke said.

"The people who've rented so far are happy to be able to do their own thing, and not be stuck on a tour bus. People like to be independent," he said.

Delia grew up in Skwentna, where his family hosted the Iditarod checkpoint and snowmachines were a way of life.

"We had to ride a snowmachine to get to school," he said.

At 15, Delia moved to Willow and started racing snowmachines in competitions like the Iron Dog. Taking home numerous trophies over time, the year 1995 stands out as Delia's last race.

"You're driving 2,000 miles cross country going as fast as you can, whether it's dark or light or a blizzard. Sooner or later, you run into something. I got tired of taking risks constantly," he said.

Several years as a mechanic at the North Slope prepared Delia for his latest business, and for converting the wheelchair-accessible vans prior to starting his company.

"Not everyone can afford to buy a $40,000 to $45,000 van. I couldn't. Vans in the price range of $10,000 to $12,000 are hard to come by. If you don't know what you're looking for, you can end up with junk," he said.

Starting his new business has more to do with helping people than making money, Delia said.

His rug-cleaning business, Universal Floor, keeps him busy. He spends 14-hour days to make the money that pays the bills while he gets Access Vans for Alaska off the ground.

"We're starting from scratch," he said. "It's a small market, but it's something that's needed."

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2284 or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.