Oliver credits mum with walking invention
To invent, you don’t need an idea, you just have to spot what no-one else has seen.
Graduate Oliver Chatting has invented a new walking aid for people with leg or foot pain, called SureStride.
But it was essentially his mum’s innovation – Oliver just spotted the potential to help not just his limping mum but everyone else suffering with breaks and fractures.
The first-class Product Design Engineering graduate takes up the story: “The idea came after a horse stood on mum’s foot and broke it.
Incredibly painful
“It was incredibly painful for her to walk and the weight of the controlled ankle motion (CAM) boot created pressure points that made every step difficult.
“Then, one day, she wrapped a gym resistance band under her boot and held the ends in her hand, and it transformed her mobility. It relieved a lot of the weight-bearing pain, and I thought, ‘there’s something in this!’
Mum’s simple insight became the foundation for SureStride, a handheld mobility aid which is impressing manufacturers and clinicians and earned Oliver a place at the prestigious Prototypes for Humanity summit in Dubai.
“The solution to reducing pain is to redistribute weight and ease pressure during movement,” he explains.
“It’s designed to help those recovering in a CAM boot or people with neurological impairments that make lifting or controlling the lower limb difficult. By lightening the load on the affected leg, SureStride helps users move more freely, reduce pain, and improve their overall recovery experience.”
I want SureStride to genuinely improve lives, just as the original helped my mum
Oliver Chatting, first-class design graduate
Oliver, who graduated in the summer is juggling paid work with ongoing project development and marketing of the prototype.
He’s currently working as a self-employed tradesman which gives him the flexibility to fund and grow SureStride, with every hour of his spare time given over to refining new prototypes and producing updated product batches.
As one of just 100 students globally selected to exhibit at the graduate design showcase in Dubai, he was buoyed by the reaction of professional engineers and designers.
“The experience was incredible, and speaking with VIPs, clinicians, and innovators was hugely encouraging. Much of the feedback focused on how simple yet clever the solution is, with an immediately clear real-world use case.
“Hearing that from such a diverse range of professionals was really motivating.”
Passion and hard work
The 22 year-old’s hope is that SureStride becomes a staple physiotherapy and rehabilitation tool, as well as a trusted daily living aid used worldwide: “Beyond commercial success, I want it to genuinely improve people’s lives during recovery, just as the original helped my mum.”
Adam Papworth, principal lecturer in design and engineering at LJMU, said: “The Prototypes for Humanity programme supports 800 universities from over 120 countries to develop prototypes that address global, social, and environmental challenges.
"It is a fantastic achievement that Oliver was chosen from 3,000 engineers to showcase in Dubai. His passion and hard work to solve this specific problem has driven him to this point and we wish him all the best in releasing SureStride into the market.”
