The Carry Sheet That Took Mom to the Temple Again

This year my mother turns 91. She has been unable to care for herself for a long time due to paralysis. Her face looks full and healthy, but her lower body has weakened until she can no longer walk. Luckily our family has many daughters who take turns caring for her.

A tiredness only caregivers understand

Helping a patient through daily life is no easy task. Anyone with first-hand experience can picture it: every day, both patient and caregiver grow exhausted from lifting and moving them several times over — from bed to wheelchair each morning, to the bathroom, back to get dressed, and out of the house to see the doctor or simply get some air. All of it is essential to a patient’s quality of life.

When none was for sale, we invented our own

As the caregivers began to suffer back pain from all the lifting, I searched for equipment to help move my mother — and found none for sale. So my sister and I created the “carry sheet” ourselves, and sent it for analysis at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University. Both the support panel and the carrying handles tested to hold up to 300 kilograms, making it highly safe.

It’s a new kind of innovation that replaces lifting, dragging, or pulling with carrying — moving a patient gently, without bruising them, and without hurting the caregiver’s back, because two people share the load.

A small joy that means everything

I’m delighted to have created a home-use innovation that’s easy to use and genuinely helpful for the elderly, the disabled, and anyone who can’t move on their own. Today the carry sheet let me take my mother by car to make merit and offer alms at the temple with ease — and this evening I plan to bring her up to see the rooftop garden again.

Give love and care to the ones you love, in simple ways that make every one of their days more meaningful.