Friendship: They Carried Their Friend Around The World

True friendship often involves making a sacrifice to meet the needs of someone you love.

In this case, the miracle of friendship can be found in the life of twenty-nine-year-old Kevan Chandler and his wonderful friends Tom Troyer, Philip Keller, Benjamin Duvall and Luke Thompson.

When this group of American friends decided to take a vacation to Europe, they felt that keeping their friend Kevan out was definitely not an option.

After all, traveling the world was his dream.

Making dreams come true; that’s true friendship

Kevan Chandler is a writer who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a painful degenerative disease that causes the muscles to weaken and eventually become unable to walk.

Although this illness robbed Kevan of his physical freedom of movement, it was unable to deprive him of his desire to see the world and experience adventures in new and unknown places.

Normally Kevan moves in a wheelchair, but some places he just can’t reach. However, this was no problem at all for his friends, who decided to build a custom backpack and chair for their friend.

They carried it everywhere, alternating constantly.

The first adventure began in 2015, when his friends planned a trip to North Carolina. Due to his illness, Kevan thought that unfortunately he would not be able to go with his friends, but his friends thought very differently about this.

They strapped him into a backpack and took him with them to explore the world.

The first trip was a great success, so they decided to continue with it. They decided to take their next trip to Europe, a part of the world where Kevan could see things he never thought he could. They visited castles, catacombs, monasteries and forests.

Overcoming obstacles to make dreams come true

Kevan’s friends didn’t think his muscular atrophy should be a reason why his dreams should be smaller or bigger than other people’s.

In addition to designing a special backpack in which they could carry him and everything he needed to survive, they also set up a fund through GoFundMe to raise money.

So they managed to collect enough money to make their big adventure.

She also captured their journey on their blog We Carry Kevan and their Instagram account ( WeCarryKevan ), where you can see photos of all their adventures. In addition, they plan to make a documentary soon in which they talk about their experiences.

What they learned from their adventure

This group of friends went on a trip to Europe and visited amazing places in England, France and Ireland. Kevan preferred to visit places that would normally be inaccessible to him.

They traveled through Europe for nineteen days and were able to admire beautiful landscapes, mountains, cities and sunsets.

The journey wasn’t always easy, though. After all, they had to prepare physically to support Kevan’s weight. In turn, Kevan had to  put aside his independence and put his life in the hands of his friends.

Kevan says it’s not just about him, it’s about the whole group. It is very important for him to be able to count on the support of others and to know that every challenge, achievement and failure has given him the courage to keep going.

“At every step I had my family, friends and God. That’s where my strength comes from (the strength of all of us!). I hope I will give them strength too. That is the point: to give each other courage. Join us. We live this life together. We all get stronger and encourage each other,” says Kevan.

True friendship; a source of inspiration

Thanks to the great story of his journey and true friendship, Kevan strives to be a source of inspiration for other disabled people in the world. He wants these people to see that unattainable dreams or obstacles that cannot be overcome do not exist at all.

The story of Kevan Chandler and his friends shows very well the value of friendship.

It also teaches us that determination, a positive attitude and willpower can help us overcome difficulties and make our dreams come true.