Brendan Mackrill: Caboolture business owner ‘living his dream’ after years of struggling to find work due to his wheelchair

A Caboolture man who struggled to find work for years because he kept getting rejected due to his wheelchair has started his own mobile repair business helping people with disabilities.

A Caboolture man who struggled to find work for years because he kept getting rejected due to his wheelchair is now living out his dreams after starting his own mobile repair business helping people with disabilities.

In 2009, Brendan Mackrill was in a motorbike accident near the Glasshouse Mountains where he broke his back in three places.

The 31-year-old Caboolture dad said it was a moment that changed his life forever.

“I spent six months in the spinal unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and I am now a T6/7/8 paraplegic,” he said.

“To be honest, I have done more since being in my wheelchair now than I did when I was walking.

“I’ve achieved some pretty big goals – getting married, having a child, building a house.

“But it took me a few years to get a job.”

Desperate to find work, in 2015 Mr Mackrill took to the side of the road with a handwritten sign asking prospective employers to look beyond his wheelchair and employ his abilities.

In 2015, Brendan Mackrill was desperate to find a job because he kept getting rejected due to his wheelchair. Picture: Josh Woning.

Six years later, Mr Mackrill’s greatest dreams have become a reality after recently starting his own company, BET Mobility Repairs, doing 24/7 mobile repairs of wheelchairs, shower chairs/benches, custom seats and more across southeast Queensland.

“I decided to venture out and start my own company due to the fact that I am very passionate about my job and also the fact that I myself, am in a wheelchair,” he said.

Brendan Mackrill and his three-year-old daughter Amelia-Rose. Picture: Facebook

“As someone who’s been in the chair for the last 16 years, customers can relate to you a lot better than someone that’s walking.

“They don’t sit in a chair all day like I do and can buy things that you don’t really need and the prices go up.

“I’m someone who won’t charge an arm and a leg because I know first hand how expensive the disability industry can be.”

Mr Mackrill went viral this week after a post about his story and new business blew up on Facebook.

“I didn’t expect it to go that crazy,” he said.

“I just thought I’d put it up there to get my name out there and get a bit of work but then its gone absolutely crazy and I’ve just been trying to keep up with all the calls, texts and emails that are flooding in.”