VGM Group, Total Respiratory and Rehab Donate Chair to 12-Year-Old

Custom-built track chair will help young wheelchair user get around his family’s home and farm in rural Dyersville, Iowa.

• By David Kopf
• Apr 05, 2018

VGM Group Inc., in collaboration with Nebraska-based Total Respiratory and Rehab, has donated a custom-built TrackMaster MK-1 track chair to 12-year-old Alec Gotto so that he can better negotiate his family home and farm in Dyersville, Iowa.  

Young Gotto made headlines more than eight months ago when he led his 1,556 pound steer, JD (short for John Deere) in his power wheelchair to win the People’s Choice Award at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.

“We saw Alec’s story and knew we needed to reach out and help,” said Greg Packer, president of the U.S. Rehab division of VGM Group. “It’s an honor to present Alec with a new all-terrain chair so he can explore new worlds and go anywhere his heart desires. His new chair is custom built to accommodate his needs around the farm and in the show ring. It’s also the only track chair with this very special paint scheme.”       

Decked out in a green-andyellow, John Deere-style paint job, Gotto’s new chair features dual one-horsepower electric motors, custom seating system, 47-inch-long tracks, and a wide base to provide even more stability. It also features twin, 900-lumen LED floodlights to help Alec navigate around the farm day or night.  

“Alec's new chair will help him get around the farm and other places he couldn't go before,” said Carrie Gotto, Alec’s mother. “Now, we won't have to worry about him tipping over, and he will be able to maneuver through the wood chips and not be dependent on someone to help him. This will give him so much independence.”   

VGM donated the TrackMaster chair and the freight. Labor to install the custom upgrades was covered by Total Respiratory and Rehab, a VGM and U.S. Rehab member. Money raised through the Tracks for Alec fundraising efforts paid for the upgrades. 

“This project was a collaboration of a number of Alec’s supporters,” Packer continued. “We’re ecstatic that Alec’s wish has been granted.”

To see local news coverage, click here to view the story shared by NBC affiliate KWWL News.