In his workshop in the southwest of France, Paul de Livron is designing a wheelchair he will give to Pope Francis. Paul has been in one himself for almost 10 years after a hiking accident in Marseille. In May this year, following a General Audience, he showed the Pope the wheelchair prototype. Paul stated that this new model will be tailored specifically to Pope Francis' needs.
PAUL DE LIVRON
Engineer and craftsman
The gift of this wheelchair to Pope Francis is based on the fact that any disabled person should be able to find and be provided with equipment that not only accommodates his disability, but also fits him like a glove. That's what I've tried to do for Pope Francis—make him a wheelchair that's aesthetically pleasing, comfortable and, at the same time, a real piece of medical equipment that will support his old age. I'm trying to make a wheelchair that fits him like a glove.
The chair is custom made. It has large armrests for support when standing up. The backrest is made so that Pope Francis can sit for hours at a time. The handles at the back were deliberately made higher, so that Sandro Mariotti, the Pope's assistant, does not have to bend over when pushing the chair.
Furthermore, the materials the wheelchair is made from are very special.
PAUL DE LIVRON
Engineer and craftsman
Pope Francis' wheelchair is made primarily of plywood from two countries: from Russia and Ukraine. I deliberately used a combination of planks from these two countries for the Pope's wheelchair because he has regularly offered to be a mediator between them.
The two armrests are made from pieces of the wood from the ceiling of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in France, which caught on fire in 2019.
PAUL DE LIVRON
Engineer and craftsman
It's from the southern part of the frame of Notre-Dame in Paris, the early thirteenth-century medieval frame that caught fire in 2019. I'm lucky enough to have been entrusted with it. Two beams that survived the fire were completely charred, but I managed to carve the armrests out of them. What's interesting is that these are trees that grew around the year 1200, at the same time as St. Francis of Assisi—Pope Francis' patron saint.
The project costs €15,000 and that has been raised by crowdfunding. The names of the donors will be given to the Pope together with the wheelchair during his papal trip to Marseille in September.
PA
TR: KG
