FirstSpear shared this awesome story with us about an OEM project they are working on. Once you see the Wingman Harness on their site, we think you’ll be as impressed as we are.

We have been working with the good people at Wingman Multi-Sport to manufacture their Wingman Harness. It was originally designed for kids with mobility challenges like cerabl palsy as well as aid in general rehab therapy for wounded veterans, sports medicine, and even exercise and training.

The Wingman Multi-Sport is a patented revolutionary product designed to function in 3 different areas of human movement.

Therapy:

Physical therapists, adult and pediatric, trust the Wingman Multi-Sport to provide variable truncal support for their patients for gait training, treadmill training, seating support, hippotherapy, and assistance with general ambulation. It is also good for help with transitions. The design is comfortable for the patient and easier for the therapist. The design not only ensures the patient gets maximum benefit from the therapy, but allows the therapist to not fatigue as easily and be in as much control as they feel necessary on any given session. The units are adjustable and lightweight. G-tubes and ports can easily be avoided during the fitting process. This harness works well when assisting visually impaired clients as well.

High Intensity Exercise and Professional Level Sports Training:

Exercise enthusiasts, Professional and Olympic level trainers trust the Wingman Multi-Sport to provide a comfortable and adjustable harness for use in exercises such as speed and resistance training, sled training (does not pull the torso backward during training), weighted pull-ups, assisted push-ups, and sit ups with resistance. The Wingman is also an important part of a well-rounded balance training regimen.

Recreational Sports Training:

The Wingman Multi-Sport is ideally suited for teaching individual sports such as biking, skate boarding, roller skating, in-line skating, ice skating, hockey, and skiing. These sports require balance and control of torso and limbs together. The Wingman Multi-Sport allows the parent or coach, to be in a supportive role by having unobtrusive variable control of the torso, the major component of balance. This also allows the coach or adult to be in a position to reduce falls and injuries since they are supporting the trainee as needed. By being in control of the torso alone, the individual is allowed to work on control of the hips, legs and arms and have total head control. With this approach, the trainee, not the adult/coach, is in control of the sporting equipment. This enables the trainee to learn motor control faster and more efficiently than what typically happens when someone else has a hand on the bike or skate board, or the individual’s hands to keep them upright. For Hockey it allows students to learn to skate before they learn to rely on the stick and pads to keep them upright. It allows both the student and coach to be in control simultaneously.

Chris Spinelli from Wingman (founder/creator) talks about the product:

1. Why did you originally develop the Wingman Harness?

–My daughter was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. She needed a therapy device to use at home but I couldn’t find what she needed on the market so I made what she needed.

2. How did the relationship with FirstSpear begin? Why did you ultimately choose FirstSpear to manufacture the harness?

–The owner of Asymmetric Solutions recommended FirstSpear because we used their gear and we knew the quality was top notch. Met with Ronnie and toured the facility and I liked the fact that it was made in the USA by people who support the military after all more than 50% of our company is military or former military.

3. What is the future you want for the Wingman harness? Who will it help?

–The future is to hopefully get it approved as a prescription item so as many families in the USA that need one can get it even if they are poorer families. Special needs kids require a lot of equipment and the costs adds up quickly. If it becomes a prescribed medical device that cost is lower for those families. We would like this to help our wounded veterans with serious physical injuries who need additional balance or gait training and be able to do the training/rehabilitation at home. They are motivated individuals and would like to do some therapy at home and this product allows for that to be accomplished as well. We would like to see them in military rehab centers as well for the benefits it can provide.

We also see this as an item that helps do therapy for adults and children all across the world in underserved locations like Africa, India, Haiti, etc. We have had many requests to use the units in these location because the therapists are mostly women and they have no electricity or ability to have therapy clinics. This product is small, portable, and adjustable. Perfect for that environment. Plus it’s solidly made so will last a long time in that environment.

4. How will the Indiegogo campaign help?

–the campaign helps us get the FDA approval. It’s a costly process and ultimately our company needs the FDA approval to get it sold as a “medical device”. As part of that we plan on trying to cover any costs that FirstSpear might incur to get certified as a manufacturer of “medical devices” as per the FDA requirements for medical harnesses. They should be already there if making military gear but it’s a paperwork process and there are additional costs we need to cover

To check out their indigogo campaign visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/wingman-harness/x/11460521#/story.