Milwaukee VA Medical Center

Paul Knox shows a wheelchair spoke guard created with the laser cutter machine in his workshop.

When the wheels come off – literally – Paul Knox is there to put them back on.

As the wheelchair technician for the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, Knox is the go-to guy when it comes to repairing, adapting and customizing wheelchairs.

But his days are numbered, because he is retiring come July. Sort of.

“It’s time for me to move on,” he said from his basement workshop in Building 7, surrounded by a plethora of equipment he helped create – from spoke guards for wheelchairs to the valuable face shields needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s been fun. It’s been real,” he said. “But moving on doesn’t mean letting go.”

Wait. What?

Even though the 56-year-old is officially retiring, he will continue working at the medical center as a WOC – an employee working without compensation.

That concept is probably inconceivable to most people eyeing retirement, but it’s no surprise if you know Knox and his dedication to his work.

“Paul has always gone above and beyond for our Veterans,” said Chelsea Gruettner, a certified therapeutic recreation therapist in the Spinal Cord Injury Unit.

Dr. Kenneth Lee, SCI division manager, agreed.

“He has been our rock, a work horse,” Lee said. “He’s been a godsend for SCI and adaptive sports.”

It’s Knox’s love for adaptive sports – and all that is required to keep the athletes’ equipment in tip-top shape – that has nested in Knox’s heart and become his passion.

Knox has driven all over the country, with his trusty wheelchair repair trailer in tow, to help the hundreds of athletes who compete each year in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

He also coaches and volunteers with the Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association, covering numerous sports, including lacrosse, basketball and rugby.

It was Lee who introduced Knox to adaptive sports, and Knox has been hooked ever since.

“It’s just phenomenal,” he said. “You have people who were given a curveball in life – being in a wheelchair for whatever reason – and these people aren’t quitting. They’re out there trying. They didn’t give up on life.

“If they can’t give up on life, then I’ll give them the shirt off my back to help them succeed.”

It’s said it was “overwhelming” when he attended his first national event.

“I was like, ‘Wow!’” he said. “As an able-bodied person, you are a minority at those events. You’re looking at 500 to 600 participants, and they all give 120 percent of their energy to compete.”

Knowing Knox’s passion for adaptive sports, Lee suggested that he become a WOC.

“He loved the idea and decided that’s something he wants to do,” Lee said.

Paul Knox shows the face shields created to help protect hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Knox wasn’t always a wheelchair technician.

A native of East Troy, Wis., Knox entered the U.S. Navy right out of high school in 1982 and became an electrician, serving on an ammunition ship, the USS Mount Baker, and an aircraft carrier, the USS Forrestal.

Upon leaving the service in 1986, he continued working as an electrician, signing on with the Milwaukee VA in 2001.

In 2007, he moved on to the Logistics Department, where he found his knack for repurposing things others no longer needed.

“I took care of any equipment, materials that got turned in,” he said. “That was my job – to find a new home for it.”

He started a website called FreeBay for employees to claim unwanted furniture or other items. He would also host online auctions for employees to bid on and buy items.

“We were green before green was a word around here,” he said.

While still working in Logistics, he met Lee, which led him to becoming the wheelchair technician.

“We rely on him for a lot of things,” Lee said. “He has a very mechanical mind and can troubleshoot for us. And he’s committed. When he says he’ll be there, he’s there.”

At the time, most of the hospital wheelchair work was outsourced, Knox said. But Knox – who had never worked with wheelchairs before -- soon took on the bulk of the repairs and started providing tune-ups for patients’ chairs.

“When I first started with Dr. Lee, we started doing annuals,” Knox said. “So when the patient came in for his annual, while doctors and social workers are looking at him, we grab his chair and give it a once-over to reduce catastrophic failures and keep the patients’ chairs going.”

Knox soon learned that wheelchairs are like people – everyone is a little different.

“People in chairs can do almost anything – you just have to adapt it,” he said. “Every chair is as unique as that individual, so every chair is a little bit customized.”

He has seen wheelchair technology continue to evolve. Manual wheelchairs are now lighter while still being strong; power chairs have a host of electronics that can be controlled via apps on smartphones.

Retiring wheelchair technician Paul Knox is ready to ride off into the sunset.

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Knox does more than just fix wheelchairs and support the adaptive sports program. His workshop also contains a laser cutter, which was pressed into service when COVID-19 hit.

As hospitals around the world scrambled for personal protective equipment, he was securing huge 400-foot rolls of clear plastic and creating prototypes of face shields. Once he hit on the one acceptable to all involved, he began cranking them out – to the tune of 2,500 in a day.

In his so-called retirement, Knox said he will continue to work with adaptive sports and keep tinkering, making all manner of items designed to make life a little easier for hospital patients and those who were thrown that curveball.

He also plans to keep volunteering; his wife directs a food pantry in Menomonee Falls, where the couple lives, and he will be doing more work there.

In his 19 years at the Milwaukee VA, Knox said he has been in “every room in every building on these grounds. And I got to know people. You create a network,” he said.

Looking back, he said he has no regrets on his career choices.

“It went the way I wanted,” he said. “I’ve always been told by my dad: ‘You get out of it what you put in.’

“I’ve always cared. I gave 110 percent – no one can knock me for that.”