Aussies who can now walk again with robot-assisted rehab, with new bid to help young kids

Jess was left unable to walk after a devastating injury — until game-changing tech turned her life around. See the video.

EXCLUSIVE

At age 11, Bridgette Finlayson was diagnosed with an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid brain tumour – a rare, highly aggressive form of brain cancer usually found in babies.

After treatment, she couldn’t walk on her own as she had developed foot drop peripheral neuropathy.

Now 15, she has defied the odds and is learning to walk again with the help of a new robot-assisted rehabilitation device known as RoboFit.

Her mother Kristie is still shocked by the incredible transformation and strides she’s made since they moved to Wollongong, NSW, to get help.

“She could walk but she was still very unsteady on her feet … now she walks by herself,” Ms Finlayson said.

“I was worried I was going to be one of the kids that can’t do anything,” Bridgette said.

Watch the incredible video of their transformations above.

Bridgette Finlayson, now 15, was diagnosed at 11 with an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid brain tumour – a rare, highly aggressive form of brain cancer usually found in babies. Picture: Supplied

“It’s amazing. When you’ve gone from having a very active 11-year-old who would ride bikes, scooters – she’s a horse rider and would zip around the paddock all day if you let her – to being basically like a toddler who needed you to shower her, clothe her, feed her – she’s come so far but still has a while to go.”

“Bridgette was off school for two years, she couldn’t walk and was still getting her strength back. She was tube fed. She lost all of her hair and it still hasn’t come back even though it’s three years off treatment, and we don’t know if it will ever come back,” her mum said.

Bridgette, from Wollongong, has made great improvements, and is learning to walk again with the help of a new robot-assisted rehabilitation device known as RoboFit. Picture: Supplied

The Australian co-founder of the business, Maryanne Harris, is now on a mission to help more young Aussie kids.

She said they are currently preparing an application for the Therapeutic Goods and Administration to approve their use of a paediatric Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) Single Joint Neuro Controlled Exoskeleton.

“At RoboFit, we already support children, like Bridgette, using the Medical Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) Single Joint Neuro Controlled Exoskeleton, and we’re committed to expanding our paediatric services further,” Ms Harris said.

“Within the next six to 12 months, we hope to launch specialised programs led by paediatric physiotherapists, giving more young Australians access to this life-changing technology.

“This is a future mission we’re deeply passionate about, so please stay tuned.”

Since Ms Harris opened their doors, they have been flooded with inquiries and have 600 people on a waitlist in Melbourne, Sydney, the Gold Coast, Adelaide and WA.

With four clinics across NSW and Queensland helping 450 patients, they will soon open a Victorian centre. South Australia, WA and New Zealand are also part of their business expansion.

Ms Harris discovered the devices while researching a solution for her partner Daniel Hillyer, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a balcony fall in 2010.

They spent several years working with Japanese tech firm Cyberdyne to bring the technology to Australia.

Unlike other robots used in rehab, the RoboFit devices strengthen or rewire neural pathways to help improve motion.

“We put electrodes onto the surface of the skin that’s able to pick up biometric signals or signals being sent from the brain to the lower limbs or the muscle groups that we’re looking to target,” Ms Harris said.

Daniel Hillyer became a quadriplegic after a balcony collapse in 2010. Picture: Supplied

Daniel Hillyer with his wife Maryanne Harris. He has regained use of his hands and can now walk using a special frame thanks to intensive rehab using exoskeletons. Picture: Supplied

“It then communicates with the device to produce a movement, so it’s wearer-lead movement with the technology and then it’s able to compensate for any weakness somebody has or assist with developing new skills if we’re wanting to improve somebody’s walking or (other movement).”

Ms Harris said the journey to people achieving their goals – be that independent walking or improved balance – was tough.

“We sit alongside someone when they’re trying to navigate some of the most challenging times and seeing someone being about to progress to independently stepping after six months, or being about to independently do a slide transfer so they don’t need to be hoisted … it’s really rewarding for us,” Ms Harris, whose company is now engaged in further research with the University of Western Sydney, said.

Others have also benefited from RoboFit, which has been life changing.

One had a near-fatal mountain bike accident.

Another cut part of her foot off with a machete.

But Grant* and Jess Strzelecki can now stand and independently take their own strides.

“You’re doing something that you thought was never going to happen. It was completely overwhelming,” Grant, who hasn’t used his wheelchair for 18 months, said.

‘I DON’T THINK I’D BE WHERE I AM WITHOUT THEM’

Ms Strzelecki is just as emotional: “I very much credit the fact that I’m walking to them. I don’t think I’d be where I am without them.”

Jess Strzelecki had her nerves severed in her foot from a machete. Picture: Supplied

In January 2024, Ms Strzelecki was using a machete to clear a path in dense jungle on Christmas Island when she tripped and cut her foot.

She applied first aid and activated her personal locator beacon.

The Royal Flying Doctors Service eventually medevaced her to Royal Perth Hospital for surgery.

But the prognosis was dire.

Ms Strzelecki’s injury left her with foot drop, a condition where the foot doesn’t lift as it should because the signal from the brain has been affected.

She felt “gas lit” by doctors and physiotherapists who were not addressing her goals of wanting to end the pain and move as she used to.

Jess Strzelecki can walk now after graduating from the RoboFit program last year. She was originally told she would never walk again. Picture: Supplied

She found RoboFit’s Brisbane clinic thanks to a Google search by her mum, who was caring for her in Brisbane.

“Elke (team lead and physio at RoboFit) was the first person who just sat and listened,” she said.

“Everyone was saying I won’t be able to run or jump or climb ladders, or do anything, and she was like ‘I don’t see why not. Let’s get you there’.

“It was so difficult when we first started. One of our sessions I was just sitting on the edge of a treatment bed and trying to move my toes with my brain. Learning how to send signals from my brain to my foot. Some of the other patients there were in the full exoskeletons and there’s me trying to move my toe. I finally managed to do it and the others were cheering for me.”

Eighteen months on from her life-threatening accident, the 39-year-old is preparing to return to work soon after having relearnt to walk, run, jump and climb ladders again.

‘I CAN’T DOWNPLAY HOW AMAZING AND EXHILARATING IT IS’

Grant with his family. A terrible mountain bike accident left him wheelchair bound. Picture: Supplied

Grant was an active father who enjoyed hiking, biking and skiing.

But a terrible mountain bike accident in August, 2021, left him wheelchair bound at age 39.

“I was not in the best frame of mind. I love doing things with my family, being active, bushwalking, going to the gym – being independent. But going from that sort of lifestyle to being immobile. Having a spinal injury, one of the most difficult things is having to rely on everyone for absolutely everything, from feeding yourself to going to the toilet,” he said.

Grant underwent five months of rehab at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney but had been warned he had a very limited chance of walking independently again.

He turned to RoboFit for a 12-week intensive program in mid-2022.

Grant training with the RoboFit devices which strengthen or rewire neural pathways to help improve motion. Picture: Supplied

Part of the rehab involved using the robot exoskeleton HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) and being fitted with wires that connected to his neural pathways, to learn to move again.

“It’s the most exhausting, most difficult thing I’ve probably ever had to do in my entire life,” he said.

“They get you up in a sling so all your weight is taken, and then the robotics are connected to you. The first number of times I felt like it was just retraining my brain for what the movement was actually supposed to be like. I couldn’t feel my body but I could see my body doing the motion of walking, and then doing that over and over again until it became more natural.

“I cannot downplay how amazing and exhilarating it is to see your body that you feel so disconnected from ... to do something that people told you wasn’t going to happen.”

While he has made major gains, Grant does not have the ability to feel things below his shoulders, so when he moves it gives mixed messages to his body.

“My brain interprets (the movement) as something is horrifically wrong and sends all these pain messages throughout my body, 24 hours a day,” he said.

Grant (right) recently went on a bushwalk in the Blue Mountains with his family and friends. Picture: Supplied

“So although I can’t feel my body physically to touch, I get neuropathic pain, so chronic plan in my body. It’s like an electric shock through my leg.”

He said moving, even simple tasks like taking a sip of tea from a cup, was also mentally challenging.

“Every little task I have to use 100 per cent of my brain power to tell my body to do those things,” Grant said.

“But it's all outweighed when I get to just do something with my kids.”

Grant’s next goal is to walk a half marathon and has started training.

* Grant’s surname has been withheld

Originally published as Aussies who can now walk again with robot-assisted rehab, with new bid to help young kids