Joseph Harper, 19; set up foundation

Joseph Harper, 19, of Warminster, founder and president of the Wheeled Scotsman Foundation - which raises money to help people with disabilities pay for equipment and renovations that increase accessibility - died Saturday at Doylestown Hospital of sepsis and respiratory failure.

Mr. Harper's efforts to help people dealing with the same challenges he faced living in a wheelchair were born of frustration.

At 7, he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease that eats away at muscle function. He had been in a wheelchair since.

Mr. Harper watched his parents, Christopher and Janeen, battle insurance companies to help pay for the equipment and renovations that would make his life easier - installing ramps and widening doors and hallways. Family and friends helped by holding fund-raisers. Groups such as the Warminster Rotary made donations.

Eventually, Mr. Harper realized that other families fighting similar struggles could use help. He and his parents started the Wheeled Scotsman Foundation on Mr. Harper's 16th birthday. The family gave the charity a name that reflected Mr. Harper's mode of transportation and his cultural heritage.

The foundation hosts soccer festivals, 5K runs, and beef-and-beers, and receives private donations. So far, the group has raised $25,000.

With the proceeds, the foundation has helped install ramps and a pool lift, provided shower chairs, and renovated bathrooms. Next up is helping buy a van for a disabled teen who has spent most of his 16 years in bed.

"A lot of families don't know what to do, and may not have a place to turn," Mr. Harper told The Inquirer in 2008.

Mr. Harper was born in Abington and graduated from William Tennent High School in June. After graduation, he planned to focus on expanding the foundation.

He was hospitalized the day after Christmas after he began having stomach pain. He contracted pneumonia, and his condition deteriorated. His organs began to fail. He had told his parents that he didn't want to be kept alive on life support.

"As difficult as [his disability] was, he wanted others to be able to be safe and secure and not have to struggle," Janeen Harper said. "We are continuing his foundation with much more vim and vigor than ever before, for him."

In addition to his parents, Mr. Harper is survived by sister Stephanie, brother James, and grandparents Frank and Rosemarie Salamone and Doris Harper.

A viewing is scheduled for 9:30 to 11 a.m. today at Nativity of Our Lord Roman Catholic Church, 605 W. Street Rd., Warminster. A Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 11. Burial will be in St. John Neumann Cemetery, Chalfont.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Wheeled Scotsman Foundation, 349 Lemon St., Warminster, Pa. 18974.