Paralyzed Man Unable to Walk After Maker of His Powered Exoskeleton Tells Him It’s Now Obsolete

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.

Even my older and more business-empathetic mind can’t excuse this one. It’s a part. This company knows what they make. It’s not a cell phone. It’s not a television or a BlueRay player or a toaster. It’s a piece of technology that allows humans to walk. 10 years is not enough. And I think they know that. Shame on you.