It is nice to get a good news story amidst the coronavirus crisis we are experiencing.

This is a story of how 18 year old Tomás Kelly from Cahir, Co. Tipperary is using a modified old John Deere Gator help him fly fish on his own without the help of his parents.

Tomás Kelly in his modified John Deere Gator with engineer Shane Phelan. Photo: RTE press

Tomás became paralysed at the age of 16 when he underwent an operation after complaining about pains in his back. Unfortunately, during surgery, Tomás suffered several strokes, which left him paralysed from the neck down and unable to speak. This devastated his parents. Since then he has made some recovery in that he has regained his speech and is able to use his arms.

Using his arms has enabled him to puck a ball from his hurl while in his wheelchair. He is also able to drive the farm’s old John Deere Gator, which is at least 12 years old. He uses it to drive to the nearby River Suir to go fly fishing. However, in order to do this, he needs his father to accompany him to help him get out of the Gator into his wheelchair and back into the Gator again when he is finished.

"It would make a huge difference to be able to come down on my own," Tomás says about the possibility of going fishing by himself.

"If I came down on my own I'd only be able to look at the river as I'd need someone to take out the chair," Tomás admitted.

Shane Phelan, an electronics engineer who works in robotics and specialises in farm equipment, came to Tomás’s rescue. He observed Tomás’s difficulties and came up with a solution.

Shane spent almost a year making a motorised mechanical arm for Tomás’s customised Gator to mount and lift down his wheelchair. The delighted 18 year old can now go fly fishing on his own.

This story was recently documented on RTE’s The Big Life Fix series.