'They can start walking': Robotics company helping children with mobility issues take steps forward
A Canadian tech company is helping kids with mobility issues put their best foot forward with the help of a pair of revolutionary robotic legs.
The Ontario-based company Trexo Robotics is currently on a cross-country road show, highlighting their device – the robotic gait trainer.
"It's an exoskeleton that gets strapped on, tailored and fit to the child. And then once it's on, ideally, press play, and they can start walking," said Cory Schneider, a physiotherapist and customer success manager at Trexo.
The company serves families and children living with motor disabilities and physical impairments.
Seven-year-old Jahir Ajabo was one of the kids in Winnipeg Saturday who was to get some steps in with the robotic trainer.
He was born with cerebral palsy and has been using a wheelchair for most of his life.
"Just him being in a wheelchair, it's not what I expected when I gave birth," said his mom Kimoya Grant.
Trexo Robotics' robotic gait trainer. May 18, 2024. (Alexandra Holyk/CTV News Winnipeg)
With an extra push from the robotic legs, Ajabo is taking steps in a positive direction – 474 of them on Saturday alone.
The revolutionary technology is carving a path for robotics in rehabilitation across the country.
"When you look at the market, there's nothing serving the most impaired children," said Schneider. "So that's, I think, where we have a big, big opportunity to help families and help kids, just give them the opportunities that their peers have."
It's those opportunities that Winnipeg therapy clinic Stable Connections wants to give to their clients.
"They would come, access therapy for some functional skills, and then build in repetition, kind of like a loaner library system. So they could take it home, have that added repetition, and then bring it back," said Sarah-Michelle Senécal, the owner and lead clinician at Stable Connections.
For people like Grant, she would love to see her son do this on a regular basis.
"Every parent wants their child to be able to walk," said Grant.
After their stop in Winnipeg, Trexo will head to Surrey, B.C. on May 25.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6928674.1718497400!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Shooting at Michigan splash pad leaves 'nine, maybe 10 victims': authorities
Gunfire erupted at a splash pad in the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills, leaving as many as 10 people wounded, authorities said.
As it happened: How the Oilers crushed the Panthers to force Game 5
The Edmonton Oilers' offence exploded in Game 4 to beat the Florida Panthers 8-1.
A new tax filing system could give Canadians more than $1 billion in unclaimed benefits: PBO
Canadians would get more than $1 billion in unclaimed benefits each year through an automatic tax filing system, according to a report published by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
'They're not human beings, they're animals': Trump blasts immigrants for taking jobs
Donald Trump blamed immigrants for stealing jobs and government resources as he courted separate groups of Black voters and hardcore conservatives in battleground Michigan on Saturday.
Video shows northern Ont. storm hammer shoreline, breaking dock
The owner of a northern Ont. camp is continuing to clean up after an intense storm that prompted a tornado warning Thursday ripped through the area breaking his dock and downing trees.
'All hands on deck situation': City of Calgary declares state of local emergency over water main break
The City of Calgary declared a local state of emergency Saturday morning in response to the latest developments in a major water main break that is impacting the city.
BREAKING A 'brazen daylight shooting': 16-year-old boy was fatally shot in Scarborough during fight, say police
Toronto police are appealing for witnesses and information as they deploy a “significant amount of resources” into the investigation of the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy in Scarborough on Saturday afternoon.
Trudeau calls into question findings of stunning watchdog foreign interference report
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has concerns with how conclusions were gathered in a spy watchdog report.
U.K. royals unite on palace balcony as Princess of Wales returns to public view after cancer diagnosis
London put on a display of birthday pageantry Saturday for King Charles III, a military parade that marked the Princess of Wales ' first public appearance since her cancer diagnosis early this year.