Wheeling, Dealing for the Disabled

Michael Gross was born with only one hand and just a portion of one foot.

He said his mother had probably taken an anti-nausea drug called thalidomide during pregnancy that was later linked to deformities of newborns in Europe. The drug was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1961, six years after Gross was born.

After years of taunts from schoolchildren and years of struggle to find acceptance as an adult, Gross at last feels like the master of his own fate.

The Laguna Hills resident owns a 4-year-old wheelchair sales and service business, employs disabled workers and tries to protect his customers from being victimized by those who would sell them the wrong equipment to make a fast buck.

Gross, 41, says that although society is showing increasing sensitivity to the needs of the disabled, the industry that sells them wheelchairs and other products is in disarray.

“It’s incredible. It’s ridiculous. I don’t want to be negative, but this industry is extremely unorganized. I blame it on the third-party payment system--Medicare and Medi-Cal--that’s created such a monster. Nobody knows what to do with it, including companies like us,” Gross said. “The reimbursements from the government are very sporadic.”

For those who are newly disabled, acquiring the right wheelchair is often an elusive goal, Gross said. The first wheelchair is almost always inadequate.

“I was just on the phone with this guy. Somebody sold him a $12,500 power chair with all of the equipment on it, and he can’t use it. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do with it. He’s 6 foot 5 inches, and they sold him a chair for a much smaller person. The manufacturer won’t take it back.”

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Gross will try to modify the chair to make it fit. Part of the problem, he says, is that some physicians are not familiar with the range of equipment available for the disabled, leaving patients to fend for themselves.

“Doctors don’t really know what we need. With just about everybody I’ve seen, their second wheelchair is always a completely different chair.”

Gross is comfortable in the environment of his Laguna Hills wheelchair workshop and showroom. It is similar to the bicycle store his parents owned while he was growing up in Denver. At one time he considered opening a bicycle store, but decided Southern California didn’t need another one. His decision to start a business was sparked by an unsuccessful attempt to find a career in the electronics industry.

He spent more than a decade in the auto parts industry and worked as a purchasing agent for a Buena Park forklift dealer before deciding he wanted a change. Working during the day, he took night classes at Cerritos College and earned a degree in electronics in 1988. But no one wanted to hire an employee with only one hand, Gross said.

“I believed that if I looked hard enough, I would find a job. That didn’t happen. I got kind of disgusted and fed up. One of the people who had interviewed me had already basically hired me over the phone, but when he saw me he backed down. I got upset with him and said, ‘You need to tell me why you’re backing down.’

“Finally, he shut the door and said, ‘I’ll tell you why, but I’ll deny it if you ever bring it up. I don’t want to take a chance on your disability.’ I was pretty upset by the whole thing, but ended up deciding once I got my own business, I’m going to hire disabled people.”

Gross took his experience with bicycle repair, parts supply and electronics and began a mail-order wheelchair accessories business. It quickly expanded to include the sale of wheelchairs and other products for the disabled. His two full-time employees are partially paralyzed and use wheelchairs to get around. He also works with disabled subcontractors who help modify and customize equipment for his customers.

“When I first started, I not only wanted to have a job, I also wanted to be able to do something for somebody else. And this has more than fulfilled my expectations.

“It’s actually changed me. I’m a different person than I used to be. This has made me feel very lucky, because I see a lot of people who are worse off than I am. I never, ever feel sorry for myself anymore.”

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Profile: Michael Gross

Age: 41

Hometown: Nocona, Texas

Residence: Laguna Hills

Family: Wife Debbie, a yacht insurance broker; 9-year-old daughter

Education: Associate of arts degree in electronics from Cerritos College; additional studies in business and accounting

Background: Grew up working in parents’ bicycle shop; worked in auto parts industry; began A&T; Wheelchair, a Laguna Hills service, equipment and parts supplier, in 1992

Other interest: Equipment manager for Irvine Valley College women’s wheelchair basketball team

Equipment problems: “Doctors don’t really know what we need. With just about everybody I’ve seen, their second wheelchair is always a completely different chair.”

Source: Michael Gross; Researched by RUSS LOAR / For The Times