But it no longer holds him.
His Parents Wanted His Grave to Bring Peace
Graves are usually places associated with sorrow.
For Ernest and Anneke, Matthew's became something different.
Anneke told NPR that the monument gave the family “hope and peace.”
That was precisely what they wanted.
They did not want visiting Matthew to mean confronting only the tragedy of losing him at 10 years old.
The sculpture gave them a visual representation of what they believed had happened to their son.
His wheelchair was part of his earthly life.
It wasn't the entirety of who he was.
And in their vision of what came afterward, it no longer limited him.
Then Strangers Began Visiting
Something unexpected happened over the years.
Matthew's grave stopped being meaningful only to the Robison family.
Other people discovered it.
Photographs spread online.
Visitors to Salt Lake City Cemetery began seeking it out.
And some started leaving gifts.
Stuffed animals.
Toys.
Small tokens of affection.
NPR reported that Matthew's parents have seen new waves of public interest in the monument every few years as photographs circulate again online.
The image seems to affect people even when they know nothing about Matthew's story beforehand.
A child rising from a broken-down wheelchair communicates something almost immediately.
Children Especially Respond to It
Salt Lake City Cemetery Sexton Mark Van Otten told NPR that Matthew's monument is popular with visitors, particularly children.
They see a little boy appearing to float out of his wheelchair.
And he looks happy.
“I think it speaks to them,” Van Otten said.
That response is remarkable.
The monument represents the death of a 10-year-old child.
It could easily have become an overwhelmingly sad place.
Instead, many children apparently interpret it first as an image of freedom.
Matthew is not shown suffering.
He is rising.
The Monument Became Part of the Cemetery's Story
Salt Lake City Cemetery contains approximately 125,000 graves, according to NPR's 2022 reporting.
It includes traditional headstones, historical graves and elaborate monuments.
Matthew's grave has become distinctive enough to feature in cemetery tours.
Van Otten told NPR that a state historian had discussed the monument during an organized tour examining the different sculptures and headstones found throughout the cemetery.
The grave has also appeared repeatedly on travel and cemetery-interest sites.
But calling it merely a tourist attraction misses what draws people there.
People aren't visiting because the monument is strange.
They are visiting because its message is immediately understandable.
A child was physically limited during life.
His parents imagined him free after death.
His father turned that idea into bronze.
The Story Didn't End at the Cemetery
Perhaps the most meaningful part of Matthew's legacy is that his parents' response to his disability extended far beyond his grave.
Ernest and Anneke became involved in helping other people with disabilities obtain equipment they needed.
Their organization, Ability Found, works to connect people with assistive equipment and expertise.
The nonprofit says its mission is to help people gain greater independence through access to appropriate equipment.
Matthew's influence therefore exists in two very different forms.
One is artistic.
His bronze figure rises above his grave in Salt Lake City.
The other is practical.
His family's work has helped people living with disabilities obtain equipment intended to make everyday life more accessible.
Another Statue Followed
The public response to Matthew's monument also inspired Ernest to revisit the concept.
NPR reported that he later created a version featuring a girl rising from a wheelchair.
Ability Found identifies that sculpture as “Eleanor's Statue,” created in 2021.
The organization continues to use the imagery associated with these sculptures as part of its work.
What began as one father's attempt to cope with losing his son had grown into a symbol recognizable to people who had never met Matthew.
The Wheelchair Is Still There
One of the most powerful things about Ernest's design is that the wheelchair was not removed.
It remains central to the sculpture.
That matters.
Matthew's parents did not pretend their son's disability had never existed.
His wheelchair had been part of his everyday reality.
His right arm still reflects his physical condition.
His foot still touches the chair.