origin story

Wings for Wheels was born from a story of survival, gratitude, and purpose – a story that began long before the creation of the foundation – a story that has fueled creator Juan Pablo Roa for his entire life. When Juan Pablo was five years old, his father, Mauricio, was shot during a violent incident in Colombia. The attack left him paralyzed and at the edge of death. Mauricio was devastated, which alchemized into a darkness quickly calcifying inside of him. As he underwent necessary surgery, Mauricio’s heart stopped beating. He was dead. The team of doctors and nurses did four rounds of chest compressions. When everyone feared all was lost, they tried one last time… and this time Mauricio came back to life. When Mauricio awoke, his determination to live eclipsed his internalized darkness. Through sheer will, through faith, through an excellent medical and rehabilitation team, and through the strength of the people around him, Mauricio found life again.

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Rehabilitation became his rebirth. He learned to drive again, to travel, to work, to live independently. He rebuilt his businesses, his confidence, and his life from a wheelchair — and through that process, he discovered a mission: to help others do the same. Grateful for the chance to be alive, he turned pain into service and created Alpha Prime Medical, a company that imports and customizes wheelchairs, training doctors and rehabilitation specialists across Colombia. Over the years, he became a reference in the field — a living example of resilience and leadership in rehabilitation.

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Juan witnessed all his fathers’s transformations and grew so inspired by him and his story. Years later, he transformed Mauricio’s story into a children’s book, Manual de paz para niños con alas, a poetic retelling of his father’s recovery — how he turned fear into freedom. It was Juan’s first attempt to process everything he lived through, to find meaning in pain, and to connect art with healing.
 

After working in creative and cultural industries for several years, Juan decided to return home — not just emotionally, but physically. He joined Alpha Prime Medical, taking charge of the production workshop. He learned every detail: assembling and disassembling wheelchairs, managing the modification process, and even producing custom parts through 3D printing. He worked directly with users, technicians, and doctors, and the more in depth he went, the clearer it became — Juan wasn’t just building equipment; he was building possibilities.
 

That’s when he realized there was something he could do beyond the technical side. Mauricio’s generation had opened doors in rehabilitation. Juan’s generation could open them in society.
 

From that realization, Wings for Wheels was born — a foundation that advocates for people with disabilities using art, education, policy, and storytelling to transform how society sees and treats individuals with reduced mobility  — A movement that carries Juan’s father’s legacy forward, expanding it into the worlds of education, art, and nightlife.

Juan launched Wings for Wheels formally in 2024 after years of working closely with people who were injured. During that time, he often spoke with doctors, physiatrists, and psychologists about the daily challenges faced by people with reduced mobility — the poverty that limits access to proper wheelchairs or therapy, the lack of employment opportunities, and the misconceptions that still surround disability.
 

Those conversations helped him understand that the biggest barriers weren’t mechanical — they were social and cultural. He started with a small local fundraising campaign with a streetwear brand and printed t-shirts, totebags, and scarves to help fund rehabilitation for 10 individuals who were recently injured. This campaign illustrated that artists and designers have the power to make inclusion visible and desirable. That momentum led him to connect with Jägermeister’s Save the Night fund, where he received monetary support to research and explore how nightlife,

culture, and education could work together to open doors — literally and symbolically — for everyone. The partnership with Jägermeister has helped scale Wings For Wheels considerably in order to achieve the upcoming goals: 
 

•  ​​Launch the accessibility toolkit: The Inclusive Menu Guide: a nightlife-native, visual toolkit that turns findings into doable actions for bars, restaurants, and festivals (quick wins, phased upgrades, staff scripts, bathroom specs, circulation maps).

• Activate field experiences & collaborations: partner with venues in Bogota to implement change and make their spaces accessible for disabled individuals. 
   

Because inclusion begins with movement — but it grows through understanding.

And sometimes, the strongest wings are made of wheels.