Students at the Kit Young Center, a school for individuals with learning impairments in Michigan, have been trying out a prototype walker developed by a California businessman.

The New LiftWalker was made by Charlie Gutierrez, who 20 years ago designed the original LiftWalker. The device is designed for both pediatric and adult wheelchair-bound individuals to give them more time standing up.

The students at Kit Young who are training with the device include some with cerebral palsy, according to a recent article. Some have never walked. The New LiftWalker aims to reduce injury for users and their caretakers, teachers and therapists. The product can be managed by one person, whereas many traditional walkers require the help of several people.

"My goal is to make the wheelchair obsolete," Gutierrez, the inventor, told ChildRC. "There's nothing good about sitting all the time. I have developed my technology to the point where almost anyone can stand up from their wheelchair and, in most cases, take steps. That includes many who have been told they will never walk. Standing and walking improve every system of the human body, including our spiritual systems of joy and knowledge. The primary objective remaining is to inform the wheelchair-bound that this is possible. Why sit when you could stand and walk?"

The New LiftWalker also aims to:

• Help with toileting
• Provide an optional transfer sling for sitting transfers to chairs, bedside, changing table, or toilet
• Employ fitted ankle and knee-height anti-scissoring prompts
• Use optional weighted ankle prompts to stretch contracted leg muscles and help with weight training.

Here’s a clip of a patient using the New LiftWalker:

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