Maine company helping build truck for 18-year-old with no arms or legs

MAINE — A New England company is helping build a truck for an 18-year-old without arms or legs.

Anders Lovstuen is getting ready to graduate high school and head out to college in the fall and will be heading there in a truck just for him.

Electronic Mobility Controls (EMC) in Augusta, Maine worked with Driving Ambition based in Texas which specializes in training and helping create vehicles for people who otherwise would not be able to drive legally.

“He’s definitely a very unique case, as you can see with the fact that he has no lower limbs as well as very minor appendages up on his upper body as well,” said Michael Courtney of Driving Ambition. “Being able to find a spot where we could place the equipment, that he can use it, and keep control of the vehicle was very important.”

The truck is being built similarly to Anders’s wheelchair, which is operated with a joystick

“I do it with my shoulder here. So, you know, forward’s is gas, reverse is brake, and then left, right turns, the steering wheel,” said Anders Lovstuen.

The cost of the vehicle is expected to be between $100,000- $200,000, some of that will be covered by grants from state agencies.

Anders says the independence it gives him is priceless.

Once the vehicle is done being built Anders will go through some training before he is able to get his license and go out and drive himself.

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