Link to original article Give it a go' attitude pays off- Central Leader 1991 "
Mt Albert's Wayne Chapman (35) spent 10 years on an invalid's benefit before he realised there was more to life than sitting in front of the television.
Mr Chapman has been confined to a wheelchair since he was 15 - the result of a motorbike accident. It took years before he found the determination to go along to an employment rehabilitation centre where he met Glen McMillan who was also to became disabled at an early age. Now the pair are partners in a telephone repair business.
"I got quite sick of being on the benefit, I thought it was about time that I did something about it,"Mr Chapman says.
"It's good to be working and self-employed, I've now been able to buy myself a car and a boat. Mr McMillan a qualified electronics technician who was working from home, taught Mr Chapman the tricks of the trade and the pair went into business in 1992 with $10.000 grant from a charity organisation.
Mr McMillan had tried to set up a similar business several years earlier but was forced to close down by burglaries.
Today they repair 3000 phones annually for customers from as far away as Christchurch and South Africa.
"It's a job you can do sitting down and doesn't involve any heavy lifting but a lot of skill," My advice to people is that if you sit at home you`re not going to get anywhere get going, give it a go."
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