Hey everyone! My name is Jeremy Hannaford, I’m a Quadriplegic welder and scrap metal artist. Yeah I said it, Quadriplegic scrap metal artist. I was injured in 2004 from a motocross accident that left me paralyzed from the chest down. The paralysis also affected my arms and hands, I’m missing muscles in my arms and I have almost zero finger function. BUT that hasn’t stopped me from doing the things
I love and set my mind to. I’ve always had an artistic side to me. I used to draw a lot when I was younger but nothing worthy of much. After my accident, I had always joked about the elephant that paints and sells his paintings and that I could try to weld some metal together calling it abstract art, but then it was just a joke. A couple years ago my dad got a welder and I wanted to see if there was any possible way that maybe I could weld. I tried one small weld and made a mess so I pretty much gave up. I have a lot of friends that work on cars and weld for a living and they told me that if there is a will, there is a way. I gave welding another try, with my dads help, I was able to make my mom a simple daisy for her birthday and I was hooked. With coaching from my dad, lots of YouTube videos and a little reading, I’ve got my welds looking pretty good. I use scrap metal for almost all of the pieces that I do. I have piles of junk that I dig through and ideas in me head that somehow come together. It’s a lot of fun to take something that people just toss in a bin and make it into something people love displaying in their home. I don’t only use my ideas, I ask other people what they would love to see made out of metal and I get to work. The pieces I make are a labor of love. Simple projects take me quite a bit longer then the average person to finish but I put my all into it. I take a lot of pride in my work and love seeing the look on a person’s face when they see my work. Who would of thought that a guy in a wheelchair that cant even tie his shoes could make art like this! I hope you enjoy! Thanks for checking me out!
