A few days ago, on a radio programme (‘La tarde’ on COPE), Pilar García Muñiz and Javi Nieves spoke with the Spanish elite athlete Carlos Martínez, world champion in 3x3 basketball.
They talked about Mari, the lady who looked after Carlos when he was a child. She saw him being born, growing up, studying and becoming an athlete. Now Carlos is a man and wants to repay her for her efforts and affection.
Mari is 85 years old and, until now, had been suffering from a lot of pain and very limited mobility. But thanks to Carlos, who is not only an athlete but also a businessman, that has changed.
After many years of research in Asia and a lot of hard work, Carlos has managed to create an exoskeleton so that Mari can walk again, without pain and without crutches.
The first day Mari tried the exoskeleton, she was thrilled; right after putting it on, her first words were of disbelief and joy: ‘This is one of the best moments of my life. An hour ago, I couldn't walk,’ said Mari, as she moved around without assistance, something that had previously seemed impossible. She repeated, amazed: ‘I'm not in pain,’ happy to be able to move without crutches.
This exoskeleton was created by Carlos with his company WellBeinn. The aim was to create a device that was not only for leisure, but that ‘really accompanies you throughout your rehabilitation.’ In this regard, Mari talks again about her experience with the exoskeleton: ‘You know what I notice? I have no pain in my groin. My groin used to bother me, but not anymore.’
Technically, this device assists with the first movement made when walking: hip flexion. Carlos describes it as if someone were ‘lifting your legs, one after the other’. It even has an interactive AI model that anticipates movement.
The sensation, Carlos explains, is similar to ‘walking in a swimming pool,’ as it takes weight off the body and provides stability. It is made of carbon fibre, weighs less than 2.5 kilograms, and its weight is distributed throughout the body, so it is barely noticeable.
The device runs on a battery that offers between 20 and 25 kilometres of autonomy and is easy to charge. The power is adjustable, so it can be adapted to each person's needs.
You can start with a high power setting to provide the necessary momentum and gradually lower it as the body rehabilitates and even ‘builds up resistance, so you can train that hip flexion’.
The goal goes beyond walking. Carlos emphasises that he wants Mari's body to ‘re-educate itself, regain its balance and regain its muscle strength’. Although it does not cure structural problems, it can strengthen and ‘regain that confidence’.
The athlete has been cautious about its application in cases such as stroke, Parkinson's disease or muscular dystrophy, recommending that a team of physiotherapists evaluate each particular case through the company's website.
Thanks to the video they recorded of Mari and the volume of production, the price of the exoskeleton has been reduced from €3,000, with financing options available. The product is currently sold out for the second time, and pre-sales have been opened so that it can be reserved.
On the one hand, Carlos remains focused on his career as an elite athlete, but at the same time he has developed his life as an entrepreneur, which he initially “hid” for fear that it would be interpreted as a lack of commitment to sport, a prejudice he has now decided to ignore.
Carlos was very excited to be able to help Mari, so that she would no longer suffer from her situation. Furthermore, for him, Mari is much more than the woman who took care of him as a child. ‘She is one of the women in my life,’ he confessed in the interview. Their relationship has endured over the years, even after he left home at a very young age to pursue his sporting dream.
‘Whenever I come back, I'm at her home every week, sometimes even every day,’ explains Carlos, who jokes that he still takes Tupperware from her house. The bond is so strong that she was the one who accompanied him to choose his engagement ring.