Patty Gopez
Having a child with a disability can be heart wrenching, especially when it limits your kid from doing things other kids can do easily. Debby Elnatan knows the feeling all too well: her son, Rotem, has cerebral palsy, which strains his ability to walk. Elnatan decided to take matters into her own hands and was inspired to design a harness to enhance his mobility. Her little invention not only benefits her son – she’s decided to put her creation, called Firefly Upsee, on the market. According to a service rep for the manufacturer, Leckey, it will be available for sale April 7.
“Out of my pain and desperation came the idea for the Upsee and I’m delighted to see it come to fruition,” the Israeli mother said in a press release.
The mother’s invention, which will retail for about $500, works on the principle similar to how parents teach kids how to dance. Instead of the kids putting their feet atop their parents’ shoes, the Upsee places the kids’ feet beside the grownups’ feet with special designed sandals. The kids stand facing forward in front of the parents and they walk in unison – similar to a three-legged relay race.
“It allows us to do so many things and go so many places that we couldn’t before,” said Colorado resident Stacy Warden, whose 5-year-old son, Noah, like Rotem, has cerebral palsy.
“He laughs and giggles, something he doesn’t do with other walking devices, which he sees as work,” Warden has told ABC News.
Another mother, Maura McCrystal, explained that the Upsee invention has enabled her son Jack to play soccer for the first time ever along with his father and brothers.
McCrystal has said, “To see Jack playing like any other 5 year old boy made me very emotional.”
Image via Firefly site
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