Jonathan Miller Email & Phone Number

I grew up with a mother who had trouble walking. She was born with a rare Muscular Dystrophy Disease and as a result, she had slightly deformed legs, club feet and poor muscle strength in her legs. My mother underwent multiple surgeries on her legs that probably did more harm than good. I have no childhood memories of running with my mother or walking very far. I remember as a teenager a discussion over whether she could walk about a mile to our synagogue for the Jewish High Holidays. Despite her condition, overall, life was normal. My mom was limited but still functional. Until I was in my early twenties when her walking got progressively worse and she could no longer walk without holding on to something; the wall, a piece of furniture, or someone’s arm. And yet she didn’t complain. I realized that my mom needed my help to get her back to walking and I didn’t have to be a doctor or physical therapist to realize that her walker was not stable enough to properly help her. I could not believe there was not a single walker on the market that could meet her needs. I started to wonder if I could design a suitable walker for her. I had never done anything like this, but, having grown up with an engineer father, I was not afraid to try it. I was determined to find a way to make a walker stabile enough - as stable as holding onto a wall or someone’s arm. I visualized a stable base that surrounded my mom – and that is where the U-shaped base came from. It surrounds you – and braces you in every direction. A few days later, I started to fashion the first “U-Step” in my mom’s basement. I did not have the tools or skills for working with metal so I stuck to wood for everything but the water pipe handlebars. It sure wasn’t pretty but, I was on my way to having a working prototype. I remember bringing it upstairs for my mom to try it. She grabbed onto the handlebars and stood up and started to walk! The rest, as they say, is history.

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  University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign - College Of Business

  Business