Abstract: A lift-assist device is provided for securely clamping a wheelchair and then elevating and forwardly tipping the wheelchair to assist the occupant in rising from it to a standing position. The device operates with any conventional wheelchair design, the device having adjustment mechanisms to accommodate wheelchairs of varying size. The device eliminates the need for lift-assist wheelchairs to have their own integral lifting mechanisms which in the past have made such wheelchairs cumbersome and heavy. The present device is conveniently portable and much less expensive than wheelchairs with integral lift-assist mechanisms. Thus, the present invention provides wheelchair-bound persons with greater mobility than was previously available by greatly improving the usefulness of conventional non-lift-assist wheelchairs, which can now be given lifting assistance by the present invention in a variety of settings.