Though Jim doesn't have full use of his hands it often stays late to work on his own
Jim is fixing one of the cylinders for a scooter that was brought in
Jonny helped Jim a lot of on the chair for Oscar that he could not do himself
At home Jim and his wife Lilia have their two dogs and rabbit to keep them company
Ten years ago Jim Bucher started the company Quadra Tek on the Ventura Avenue in Ventura, Calif. He originally was working out of the garage near his house that he purchased from a family friend – but the neighbors were complaining about the noise. The goal of Bucher's shop is to help other disabled people by repairing their mobile scooters, wheel chairs, car lifts, and by installing various lifts for customers. Currently he has three other employees to help him take on the work load. One person covers the front desk and two or more men help in the shop with the welding, repairing, and installing of various parts that Bucher cannot do on his own.
In the 1970's when Bucher was 17 he jumped into a lake head first and broke his neck. One of his friends and his sister noticed he had not come back from the lake and pulled him to shore just before he blacked out completely. They held him on the shore until the paramedics could be reached assist them. Since then he has been paralyzed from the waist down and lost many functions of his hands. After months in the hospital recovering he was determined to keep as active as he could be; most often by racing in his wheel chair, rugby, basketball, and teaching others the sports that can be played in a wheel chair. From his drive to be independent and resourceful he started to build and repair things. Fueling his need to start something from scratch.
Jim Bucher recently finished a personal project for his former student in basketball of fifteen years Oscar Magallanes. Magallanes now mentors younger people in basketball and plays in various tournaments himself. He cannot afford to buy a new chair and Bucher decided to create one especially for him from scratch and free of charge. Bucher can no longer particpate in the events him self due to shoulder injuries and stresses.
With the stock market and finances for everyone in a flux, Jim Bucher does not know how much longer he is going to be running Quadra Tek. He already has one employee coming in only three times a week; and he is operating at 50% of what he usually is at for this time of year. His wife Lilia Bucher is currently working three jobs to help pay the mortgage. Bucher is quite worried on how they will make it through this coming winter.
During the few weeks I spent with Jim I grew to know him as a person. He is amazing to continue through what all of his troubles. During my one of my final shooting days with him Lilia invited me over to have dinner with them on her birthday and told me I couldn't go home without taking some more BBQ chicken and her excellent flan.
When I get back to California after my trip in India Holly, his sister and my former landlord, and I want to try use these pictures to help him gather government funding to keep Quadra Tek up and running.
