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

submitted 1 month ago by Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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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."

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[–] antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 month ago (2 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 1 month 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 1 month ago

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