A group of amputee motorcyclists is travelling approximately 7,000 kilometres across South Africa to raise awareness, meet other people with limb loss and deliver prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs to recipients who need support.
The 2026 Wheels of Hope tour left Pretoria on 12 September and is expected to cover the country in approximately 15 days.
According to the George Herald, the team plans to hand over ten prosthetic legs during the tour. Recipients are located in Gqeberha, Pretoria, Cape Town and Welkom.
Wheelchairs are also being delivered, including two provided to people in Mossel Bay.
The journey combines fundraising and equipment provision with a wider message: limb loss can change how someone performs an activity, but it does not automatically end their ability to travel, participate or pursue ambitious personal goals.
Twelve amputees join the 2026 journey
The Wheels of Hope fundraising campaign says the 2026 team includes 12 people with amputations, with seven travelling on motorcycles and five in a support vehicle.
The initiative follows an earlier 6,000-kilometre journey undertaken in 2025. That first campaign helped deliver seven prosthetic limbs while raising awareness of the financial and practical barriers faced by South Africans with limb loss.
The expanded 2026 tour is intended to spend more time meeting amputees and supporters in the communities visited along the route.
Organising riders Dave Malherbe and Matthew “Bushy” McKelvey met local amputees during a stop at Barkley and Oates Orthotic, Prosthetic and Rehabilitation Centre in George. Nico van Niekerk, an ambassador for the Handicapable Foundation, also joined the meeting.
Another organiser, Rick Esterhuizen, lost his left leg in 2025 following complications associated with diabetes. His participation highlights an important aspect of the tour: its message is being delivered by people with direct experience of amputation, rehabilitation and returning to daily life.
Peer support can reach beyond clinical rehabilitation
Prosthetists, physiotherapists and rehabilitation teams provide essential clinical care, but they cannot always answer every personal question that follows limb loss.
New amputees may wonder whether they will be able to return to driving, sport, parenting, travel, employment or relationships. Meeting someone with similar experiences can make those possibilities more tangible.
Peer support can provide practical knowledge about living with a prosthesis, managing setbacks, communicating with clinicians and rebuilding confidence. It can also create a space in which frustration and uncertainty are understood without lengthy explanation.
A nationwide tour allows that support to move beyond major rehabilitation centres. By stopping in different communities, Wheels of Hope can connect people who might otherwise have limited contact with other amputees.
The value of the initiative therefore extends beyond the devices being delivered. The riders themselves demonstrate different ways of participating in life after amputation.
Motorcycling presents distinct prosthetic considerations
Returning to motorcycling after limb loss requires individual assessment. The rider’s amputation level, strength, balance, prosthetic control and motorcycle configuration can all influence what is safe and practical.
Some riders may use adapted controls, while others may be able to operate a motorcycle with limited modification. Decisions should be based on the individual rather than an assumption that every person with a similar level of amputation has the same capabilities.
For lower-limb prosthesis users, prolonged hip or knee flexion can affect comfort inside the socket. Heat, perspiration, vibration and sustained pressure may also influence suspension and residual-limb skin.
A riding position that feels comfortable for a short journey may create pain or skin irritation over several hours. Long-distance riders therefore need opportunities to remove the prosthesis, inspect the residual limb and respond early to pressure or swelling.
Prosthetists supporting a return to motorcycling should understand the rider’s position on the specific motorcycle, how the prosthesis interacts with the controls and whether the socket or components restrict the required movement.
The objective is not to prescribe motorcycling as a rehabilitation activity. It is to help someone safely return to an activity that is personally meaningful to them.
The tour exposes continuing gaps in prosthetic access
The need to fund prosthetic limbs through sponsorships and public donations also demonstrates the limits of existing access.
Wheels of Hope works alongside Rejuvenate SA, a nonprofit organisation established to improve access to prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and other forms of mobility assistance.
Rejuvenate SA was founded by adaptive athlete and below-knee amputee Travis Warwick-Oliver after his own rehabilitation following a motorcycle accident. His experience showed how difficult it can be to regain mobility without private medical funding or community support.
The 2025 Wheels of Hope campaign previously estimated that a prosthetic refit could cost more than R50,000, while a new limb could exceed R100,000. The precise cost varies considerably according to amputation level, socket requirements, components, activity needs and clinical services.
A donated prosthesis must also be supported beyond its initial handover. Continued mobility depends on review appointments, socket adjustments, repairs and replacement components.
This makes coordination with established prosthetic providers essential. The success of the ten limbs being delivered in 2026 should ultimately be measured by whether recipients remain comfortable, mobile and supported after the tour has ended.
Moving beyond the language of inspiration
Journeys led by amputees are often presented mainly as inspirational stories. That can increase public attention, but it risks overlooking the practical barriers the participants are trying to expose.
The riders are not simply demonstrating personal resilience. They are drawing attention to the cost of prosthetic care, unequal access to mobility equipment, disability stigma and the importance of community support.
IMEA CPO recently reported on King Nipho’s 5,000km prosthetic walk across South Africa, another national journey using public visibility to advocate for disability inclusion.
Together, these campaigns show how South Africans with disabilities are moving beyond being described only as patients or beneficiaries. They are becoming organisers, fundraisers, advocates and visible leaders within the national conversation on rehabilitation.
Mobility should create possibilities
The purpose of prosthetic and rehabilitation services is not simply to achieve an acceptable gait inside a clinic.
Mobility should help a person return to the roles and activities that give their life meaning. For one individual, that may be walking to work or caring for children. For another, it may include travelling thousands of kilometres across South Africa on a motorcycle.
Wheels of Hope connects those two sides of rehabilitation: providing essential mobility devices to people who lack access while showing what participation after limb loss can look like.
As the riders complete their journey, the challenge will be to convert public attention into sustainable support for prosthetic services, wheelchair provision, follow-up care and amputee-led peer networks.
The tour may last 15 days, but the mobility needs it highlights continue throughout a person’s life.
- George Herald – Wheels of Hope Amputee Motorcyclists Tour South Africa
- Wheels of Hope 2026 Fundraising Campaign
- Rejuvenate SA
- Rolling Inspiration – Wheels of Hope in Support of Amputees
- Good Things Guy – Wheels of Hope Helps Amputees Walk Again
- IMEA CPO – King Nipho’s 5,000km Prosthetic Walk
- IMEA CPO – What Happens After the Prosthesis?