Technology

60036 readers

2951 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related content.
Be excellent to each another!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

755

Paralyzed Man Unable to Walk After Maker of His Powered Exoskeleton Tells Him It's Now Obsolete (futurism.com)

submitted 2 months ago by Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

85 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A former jockey who was left paralyzed from the waist down after a horse riding accident was able to walk again thanks to a cutting-edge piece of robotic tech: a $100,000 ReWalk Personal exoskeleton.

When one of its small parts malfunctioned, however, the entire device stopped working. Desperate to gain his mobility back, he reached out to the manufacturer, Lifeward, for repairs. But it turned him away, claiming his exoskeleton was too old, *404 media *reports.

"After 371,091 steps my exoskeleton is being retired after 10 years of unbelievable physical therapy," Michael Straight posted on Facebook earlier this month. "The reasons why it has stopped is a pathetic excuse for a bad company to try and make more money."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

371k steps over 10 years is like 100 steps per day. Is it really slow, or did he only use it once a week?

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 32 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My guess is he would use a wheelchair at home where the area is prepared to accommodate it. The exoskeleton is likely slower and harder to wear around the house, but can make him mobile in places where a wheelchair can't go.

[–] antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 months ago

Hope he can make it to at least a million steps to bring down his per step cost below 10 cents.