Michiel is originally from the country of Belgium, currently residing in Portugal. In 2013 his life got a big change: he ended up in a bus crash that left him paralysed from the waist down. Since that day he has made it his goal to keep pushing himself to achieve new horizons on a personal and physical level. He co founded an app called On Wheels that maps accessibility in over 23000 places in Belgium. The project was a big success and is still used by loads of people in a wheelchair nowadays in Belgium.
Personally he had a big breakthrough in his life 5 years ago, when he started to learn how to walk again, he had spend 5 years in a wheelchair and quite frankly had had enough. He enrolled in rehab in Barcelona, Cambridge and at home. He worked hard and got to the point where he is now: walking on crutches basically all the time. Just using the wheelchair rarely, around the house, for tasks that require his two hands free.
Hand cycling has become one of his biggest passion these last years. Last year in June he embarked on a mission to go and break the Guinness world record of the ‘longest journey by hand cranked cycle’ ever established. He travelled from Alaska to Mexico in a period of 10 months, and succeeded. He is very proud to now be the official record holder of said record. New projects are under way, such as establishing the Guinness World Record for ‘the highest altitude ever achieved on a hand cranked cycle’ in the north of India, in May of 2024.
Michiel loves to travel, cook, meditate, and believes strongly in questioning the barriers mainstream society has established for people who are differently abled.
Michiel is originally from the country of Belgium, currently residing in Portugal. In 2013 his life got a big change: he ended up in a bus crash that left him paralysed from the waist down. Since that day he has made it his goal to keep pushing himself to achieve new horizons on a personal and physical level. He co founded an app called On Wheels that maps accessibility in over 23000 places in Belgium. The project was a big success and is still used by loads of people in a wheelchair nowadays in Belgium.
Personally he had a big breakthrough in his life 5 years ago, when he started to learn how to walk again, he had spend 5 years in a wheelchair and quite frankly had had enough. He enrolled in rehab in Barcelona, Cambridge and at home. He worked hard and got to the point where he is now: walking on crutches basically all the time. Just using the wheelchair rarely, around the house, for tasks that require his two hands free.
Hand cycling has become one of his biggest passion these last years. Last year in June he embarked on a mission to go and break the Guinness world record of the ‘longest journey by hand cranked cycle’ ever established. He travelled from Alaska to Mexico in a period of 10 months, and succeeded. He is very proud to now be the official record holder of said record. New projects are under way, such as establishing the Guinness World Record for ‘the highest altitude ever achieved on a hand cranked cycle’ in the north of India, in May of 2024.
Michiel loves to travel, cook, meditate, and believes strongly in questioning the barriers mainstream society has established for people who are differently abled.