- THE FIRST QUADRIPLEGIC TO COMPLETE THE PUZZLE
(NOTE: ASSEMBLED SOLO AND MIXED ALL 24,000 PIECES BEFORE COMMENCING!)
- FIRST IN ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA, USA.
7 April 2009
Daniel Wright - St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
Assembled between August 2008 and 7 April 2009.
7 August 08
Hi, it is my intention to be the first quadriplegic to complete the puzzle.
I have limited hand use and pick pieces up with a little saliva on the heel of my palm.
I've done a 6000 piece puzzle this way. Can't wait to start!
30 January 09
Hi, I'm writing to let you know I'm slightly more than half finished.
I have finished the entire length above the waterline. It's been 5 months so far.
I'm 43 and live in St Petersburg, Florida, USA.
I haven't lived my life defined by my spinal cord injury but not when it
comes to this puzzle. Being a c5-6 quad/tetraplegic and not having the
use of my fingers have slowed me by a factor of 10
... back to work.
1 Feburary 09
Thanks for your reply and words of encouragement. I felt that doing the
puzzle in quarters was only doing four 6,000 piece puzzles, making the
8,000 piece one I did some years ago still the largest puzzle I ever did.
However a 24,000 piecer is not 4 times harder than a 4,000 piecer but
closer to 1,000 times .. but that's work for a mathematician.
I'm finished with everything above the waterline.
Visually speaking I have the hardest part, the fish, coral, and lost city,
left to do. Though it is only an 11,000 piece puzzle now!
When I finish it I hope to have it hung in the Tampa Veteran's Hospital.
(I'm a veteran) I work on a 5 x 8 foot table, with an extra 5 x 4 foot
section that I use for the rest. It involves a lot of gymnastics since I'm
only able to reach about 2 feet from the edge. I think I may do a video
explaining how I did it and put it on youtube.
I am enjoying it very much, thanks in part to the artwork, I'll save that
for another time.
Back to work ...
7 April 09
I have finally finished .. which I have mixed emotions about because it was
always enjoyable and never monotonous or endless. The design made it such;
no vast areas of the same color. In the end I was left with around 250
pieces of a variety of solid blues from the sky to the butterfly
background to the ocean and dolphins. 2 days later it was over. I only
lost 8 pieces. I was hoping to stay under 100. Once pieces hit the ground
they stayed until my nurse at night arrived, often as I was lifted out of
my chair pieces would fall from the folds of my pants or they'd turn up
under my cushion. I'm amazed only 8 were lost. Now I need to request
replacements.
Daniel Wright
 
My assistant... and my previously largest puzzle - 8000 pc. (Click images to enlarge)
UPDATE - November 2011: The puzzle is proudly displayed in the Shriner´s Hospital, Tampa Florida.
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