After an accident left herun

for months, Portia devised

people who are w

BY LESEGO MAJA PIC

A MATTER

I

T WAS nine nightmarish months

of her life. A shattered pelvis, a frac-

tured arm and being confined to a

wheelchair – all of that Portia

Mavhungu could handle, but what

almost broke her was her complete

loss of independence. She couldn’t

even go to the loo on her own.

“My mother and my grandmother

had to lift me off the wheelchair and
put me onto the toilet seat,” she tells us.
The indignity of it all sent her spiralling
into a deep depression and she counted

her lucky stars when her body finally
healed and she was able to walk again.
But if nine months felt like an eternity

to her, what about people who are per-
manently wheelchair-bound, she asked
herself. Inspired by her own traumatic
experience, Portia (31) invented the

Para- Tube, an award-winning seat that
fits onto any wheelchair, allowing people
to relieve themselves without needing
to be lifted off their chair.

The eco-friendly seat comes with bio-
degradable disposable bags and has a
centre part that can be pulled out and

flipped up. Once flipped up, users can
retrieve the bag from the flipped centre
part, clip it onto the opening created
from pulling out the centre and then

relieve themselves.
“When you’re done you clip out the
bag, close it and you draw the middle
part of the seat back. Once you take the

bag out and seal it, it traps the smell,”

the Pretoria resid

creet and easytou

most proud ofisj

the chair is. “It’sa

La-Z-Boy (recliner

S

HEwis

beena

herow

dent.In

lucky

death

fell from a highb

Durban.

The details ofth

traumatic for her

Her injuries were

spend two month

she was releasedi

before she couldg

start walkingagai

During thistim

anti depressantsbe

about her lossof

But there wasone

kept her goingdur

dark time – anide

had sparkedin

brain.Onpapero

dayshe’dsketche

nabletogetaroundbyherself

aningeniousportable loo for

wheelchair-bound

TURE:LUBABALOLESOLLE

dentexplains.It’s dis-

use,butthethingshe’s

justhowcomfortable

as if you’resittingon a

rchair),”shesays.

shesherinventionhad

availabletoherafter

wndevastatingacci-

n 2011 Portiawas

toescape

whenshe

buildingin

he accidentaretoo

torehash,shesays.

esobadshehadto

hs inhospital.After

t tooksevenmonths

getherlifebackand

n.

me shehadtogo on

ecauseshefeltsolow

independence.

ethingthat

ringthis

a that

her

one

eda

tionshebelievedcouldputanendtothe

dailyhumiliationthatmillionsofwheel-

chair-boundpeopleareforcedtoendure.

DreamingupthePara-Tubewasone

thing, butgettingit offthepage andinto

developmentwassomethingelseentire-

ly. Portiawasn’t abletofindanylocal

interestinproducingthechairsoshe

turned to an American company.

ABOVE:Portia

Mavhunguwonthe social

impactawardatthe Global

Cleantech Innovation

Programme Awards last year.

LEFT: Her award-winning,

eco-friendly seat can fit any

wheelchair.

designforaninven-

ABOVE: Portia

NEWS