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I am the North Kingston Power Lifting Special Olympics Coach. I started by training my youngest brother, Gregory, when he was 17. Greg has Down Syndrome. Growing up together, he watched me compete in bodybuilding and decided he would like to try weight training, too. I was happy to be a positive influence for my brother so I began training him to be a power lifter. I volunteered my help to the Special Olympics and quickly found myself the head coach.
Identifying a need through Norm
In my first year as a Special Olympics Coach, I began bringing Norm Marsh, one of our athletes, to my gym for extra training with Greg. The power lifting events are the dead lift and the bench press. Greg competed in both events and Norm entered the bench press event.
Norm was born with Spina Bifida, a condition of uncertain origin, which for Norm meant that his legs were not fully developed at birth. For mobility he depends on forearm crutches. When I met him he was using the traditional crutches you get, for free, from the insurance company, called Invacare crutches. These crutches are stainless steel with rubber grips and rubber crutch tips. The arm cuff is bendable steel dipped in rubber. Invacare’s arm cuffs bend to complement the shape of the user’s arm. But if you bend it back and forth too much it can break. And that is exactly what Norm did. He is also an incredible procrastinator and never seemed to get around to repairing or replacing his broken crutch. In the process of training Norm we became friends, and I decided that my friend was not going to the Special Olympics with a broken crutch. I took matters into my own hands, and bought him the very best pair of crutches for his upcoming event.
Shopping around for Norm, I was discouraged to find that there were few options to choose from in buying crutches. I was thinking of something with flames or something that resembled a Harley Davidson. But all I could find was the same standard design: a metal shaft. The only variation was in the color, and those were not very interesting, either. So I chose a pair of white crutches for Norm. Still, I wanted to do something special to them so that he would be proud of them. He was a special competitor and I wanted his crutches to reflect that.
I took the white crutches to a student studying Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. My goal was to do something different to the crutches that would be a noticeable change from the same old design. The student wanted to help and I left the crutches with him to work on. But with finals around the corner, the best he could do was painting them a sort of high gloss fire engine red.
So I had another idea; I bought cool decals and put them all over the bright red crutches. I also bought a leather pad for the arm cuff for extra comfort and style. I customized the crutches with the best grips and crutch tips I could find. Despite all these modifications, I wasn’t satisfied with the final product. It looked too homemade, and too busy, like some sort of rainy-day activity that had gotten out of control. I also thought while I was putting on the decals that a flat surface would show the design better and be easier to apply.
I gave the crutches to Norm just before his competition… and he really appreciated how original they were, compared with his previous crutches. In their first competition for the Special Olympics, Norm bench pressed 90 lbs, and Greg bench pressed 110 lbs and 135 on the dead-lift. Greg was seventeen and Norm was only thirteen. They continue to train for their Olympics, and their progress has been nothing short of amazing since that first competition.
After the Special Olympics I drew a design for a new crutch. I made it flatter, so it would hold a decal better and look more streamlined and designed in more cushioning for better comfort. I began to think that a disabled person’s “constant companion” should be as comfortable and cool looking as possible. I brought my design to a friend whom I used to train, Kim Roberts. Kim owns Merrifield & Roberts, a boat building company in Bristol, R.I. Kim liked my idea, and we agreed to work on a prototype. He showed me how it could be made using the same materials and technology he uses to build boats.
We decided to use carbon fiber for the frame because it is both strong and light. Additionally, carbon fiber looks great as a final product. Components in some of the most high-tech cars and sporting equipment use carbon fiber. We assembled the first crutch by wrapping carbon fiber around a piece of cut foam. I dressed the crutches up with Boston Red Sox decals because they are Norm’s favorite team. Norm used the crutches for about a year. The kids at his school thought Norm’s new crutches were really cool. I was beginning to enjoy the process of making an “invisible” item stand out as something really unique. Norm liked all the positive attention, too.
Building on our success
As successful as that version was, those first crutches weren’t exactly like my design. The prototype wasn’t suitable for high rates of production or cost-effectiveness. Still, it was gratifying see the new crutch come to life and to stand up to a 13-year old’s daily use and abuse. This was the beginning of our company. It started in the summer of 2004.
After forming the company, we didn’t jump right into improving the design. Kim was busy sailing and I had work as well. We came back together at the end of the summer and began redesigning the crutch. This time it was closer to what I originally envisioned. Our goal was to make the crutch big enough to accommodate a design but small enough to be streamlined. At first I loved the new design and thought, “Wow, we’re so close to really making cool crutches!” How wrong I was! In reality the process was just the beginning. We spent a great deal of time testing and re-testing the crutches to find the perfect production methodology. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t rush into starting a business. I learned a great deal about crutches and I am now confident that we have a genuinely unique product that is as strong as we hoped for.
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Our criteria turned out to include strength of material and construction, light-weight, and a maneuverable center of gravity, comfort and improved cushioning, attractiveness (the “cool” factor) and cost-effectiveness.
What's in a name?
We named the business on Christmas day, 2004. I was playing pool with my father and brother. I kept throwing out possible names and they just shook their head in disapproval. Finally I said, “I want them to be special like superhero crutches. Superman, Batman, Robin…Robin, Batman’s sidekick.” Finally I said, “Sidekicks, every superhero needs a sidekick!” Both my father and brother said they liked it. I ran upstairs and called Kim right away. He liked it too, and Sidekicks, Inc. was born.
Norm, Greg and Sidekicks crutches all improve
I continued to train Norm and Greg for the 2005 Special Olympics. I got Norm a new pair of crutches from our improved design, this time white, with the Sidekicks logo on one side and the Special Olympics logo on the other. This time Norm bench pressed 25 lbs more -- 115lbs. -- not too shabby from the year before. Greg improved as well, he bench pressed 125 lbs. and dead-lifted 165lbs., which broke the state record.
After the summer of 2005 I started training Norm more frequently. His father, Tim, brought him to the gym, which made things easier for me without having to cross the bridge to pick Norm up in Jamestown. At first, Tim waited in the car while I trained Norm but I eventually convinced him to train with us. I figured that if I could get Tim involved it would be a win--win situation for everyone, and it was.
Norm used his new crutches for about a year. But one day on his way into the gym I noticed that the crutch just seemed too big for Norm. So I decided to change the design one more time. Working with Kim, we made it a little smaller and more symmetrical. I was ecstatic with the results because now it really resembled my first drawing.
This modification, however, made the crutches somewhat weaker than our first two designs because it was smaller. Norm broke some of these first crutches in daily use. We decided to start by making the crutches as light as we could, and then add more material to improve the strength as needed. The drawback to added material, of course, is added weight. Norm is pretty rough on crutches so we developed a term: if they survived Norm, they were definitely strong enough--hence the term “Norm Proof.”
We finally made Norm Harley Davidson crutches that were black with an orange decal. They were strong, they were light and they were cool! With this pair I came up with the idea of crutch covers, to cover the body of the crutch. With a cover, Norm could protect the finish of the crutch when he’s playing sports or being a teenager. Add a pocket to the crutch cover, and now the owner has an all-purpose I-pod / cell phone / wallet carrier.
In the spring of 2006 our patent was approved. Coming to the end of that long process was a success all by itself. In general, each little success reinforced my feeling that these crutches could become a reality, not just for Norm, but for anyone who needed them. So now I was truly inspired. I spent all of my spare time, including weekends, working on the crutches. I developed a pair for Norm, this time silver, which he used this summer at the Special Olympics.
I knew he was going to do well. He was beginning to max out the machines at the gym, which is not easy to do, and amazed the other guys in the gym who have been training for years. This year he bench pressed an amazing 175lbs and just missed 185lbs! I’m glad for Norm because he deserved it. Gregory also did very well. He bench pressed again 125lbs but also broke his record and dead-lifted 170lbs!
Now Norm has credibility and the respect of the other guys in the gym for his accomplishments. I like to think that he started on his way to this achievement with a pair of crutches that separated him from the crowd.
In conjunction with the competition, Kim and I started to market our new product. Norm helped Kim and me to promote the crutches, and we developed some new customized types that we showcased at recent events. The Barbie crutch was an eye-catcher and so was the “Tiki man” crutch, which was our first airbrushed version.
Looking ahead
My current goal is to increase production because I think that we have a good product ready for production. Allowing someone else to manufacture the crutch will allow me to work on more applications and future designs, such as a crutch that lights up either to light the way or to illuminate the design.
A note of thanks
My sincere thanks to Norm for his invaluable feedback along this journey, and to my partner Kim for his knowledge and support. I am also grateful to have the opportunity to work with the many brave and talented athletes of the Special Olympics, from whom I draw strength and inspiration. I hope to repay them in a small way by offering products that they can use and enjoy.
Jon Smyth
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