Good Friday Appeal 2025: New robotic legs are helping Ted take new strides

Horsham teen Ted arrived into the world with no shin bones, knees and ankles, but he’s never let that slow him down. Now, after wearing out 14 different sets of lower limbs, he’s moving up in the world with some hi-tech “robot legs”.

Ted, 15, receives his new robot prosthetics. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Ted has always stood proudly on his own terms.

“I don’t know any different,” the double amputee, who has worn prosthetic legs since he was two, says. “This is my life, and I just get on with it.”

This month, after adjusting to, using, and wearing out 14 different sets of lower limbs, Ted, 15, is trialling so-called robot legs, with microprocessor knees that use sensors to calculate position, angles, acceleration, and weight loads.

Ted is being treated at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Funding for his hi-tech legs came via the NDIS.

Meleita Finnigan, a prosthetist and orthotist, at the RCH, said the new knees and legs will vastly improve Ted’s life.

“These will help him stand for extended periods of time, expanding his options for work, through standing modes in the knee,” she said. “These knees also adapt their gait for increased loads; important when he is carrying a school bag or groceries.”

Ted will also be able to walk up and down stairs, one step at a time.

Ted was born with a rare congenital condition, arriving into the world with no shinbones, knees and ankles.

Ted, 3, gets to try out his new legs for the first time. Dad, Peter (left) and Prosthetist Jim Vavranos, watch on as Ted takes his first steps.

Ted, aged nine, with blade legs. Picture: Alex Coppel.

With past legs and knees, Ted either fell or dropped into a chair to sit. Now, he will be able to sit gradually, with both feet planted on the ground.

Ted, who lives in Horsham, 300km northwest of Melbourne, was born with a rare congenital condition, arriving into the world with no shinbones, knees and ankles.

His parents, Abbie and Peter decided to have Ted’s legs amputated a year after his birth. Prosthetic legs gave him the best chance of an independent life.

“Ted is so resilient. With every set of legs, he’s just got up and walked,” Abbie says. “He never complains, and he never thinks he’s hard done by.

“We never made it an issue. We never dwelled on it.”

Peter added: “We’ve done everything like normal with Ted. He’s never been treated differently.”

Ted, now 15, with his new robot prosthetics. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Ted at home with his previous set of prosthetics. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Ted enjoys going to school, biking, weight training, swimming and playing basketball.

“I think growing up in a positive environment has been a real benefit to me, and my outlook on life,” Ted says. “I had my legs amputated ... before my first memory. If I lost my legs later in life, I might have a different outlook. Who knows?

“The biggest issue is people assuming I have issues,” Ted added. “I have stresses and anxieties like any teenager, but none are related to my disability.”

At home, he has a cupboard that stores his old legs and prosthetics.

Some, with patterns of Spider-Man, Sonic The Hedgehog and Minecraft, reflect Ted’s childhood heroes and passing phases.

Ted says the Royal Children’s Hospital has “done so much for me”. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Ted at home with his first and last set of prosthetics. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“It’s beautiful,” he says, looking into the cupboard. “It’s the passage of life. I guess. It’s a symbol of my learning and changing and growing.”

Ted is grateful, too, for his life of learning, changing and growing at the RCH.

He says: “They’re the reason I’m allowed to be a normal teenager through their technology and commitment. The RCH has done so much for me.”

Abbie and Peter were at the hospital when Ted first tried his robot legs, and offered an understated two word review of how it felt to use the groundbreaking technology.

“Like honey,” Ted said, smiling, then kept walking.