CHANTILLY, Va. — A new business started by two veterans in Fairfax County wants to help people with physical disabilities get back behind the wheel.
“I, personally, had a hard time finding somebody that could find me the right equipment to get me driving independently,” said Josh Himan.
Himan found help — and a future business partner — when he met Tammy Phipps at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Phipps and Himan have since launched the Driver Rehabilitation Center of Excellence in Chantilly. Their business helps people with disabilities learn how to drive again. The business also helps people modify their vehicles in order to drive.
Phipps, a South Dakota native, is an occupational therapist and a veteran. At Walter Reed, she had been helping disabled veterans drive again.
“I built the first generally comprehensive driving rehab program in the entire Department of Defense,” Phipps said. “I came out here for one year and I was going to go back home and these guys kept me here for eight years.”
Having the ability to drive makes it easier for people with disabilities live independently.
“To be dependent on somebody else when I was fighting tooth and nail to become independent again — driving is a huge piece of that,” said Jesse Graham, who suffered a neck injury at age 30.
Graham has been racking up thousands of road miles ever since regaining the ability to drive.
“My van has 20,000 miles and my truck has 43,000 miles,” Graham said. “I’ve driven across the country, I’ve driven down to Florida a few times, up to New York a couple times, Chicago a couple times. I’m constantly on the move.”
Himan said getting back behind the wheel can provide a sense of rejuvenation for people with disabilities.
“It’s a sense of freedom that is hard to describe in words, but the closest thing I can think of is rolling out in a car for the first time by yourself,” he said. “I compare it to the day you turn 16 and your parents are no longer in the car with you and that first time you take off the driveway and you are like, ‘Oh wait, I’m by myself and I am free.’”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Phipps is a South Dakota native.
