Maryanne Harris and her husband Dan Hillyer were recognised for their business, Robofit, at the recent City of Wollongong awards. Photo: Robofit.
When Maryanne Harris was a student at the University of Wollongong 15 years ago, she got a phone call at 3 am that would change her life forever.
Her husband Dan Hillyer was on a balcony when it collapsed and left him with a serious spinal injury.
The couple were told Dan would never again be able to move from the neck down, and were urged to accept that he would need 24-hour support for the rest of his life.
Now the couple have been recognised for their work bringing cutting-edge technology to treat neurological and musculo-skeletal conditions such as spinal injuries, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and cerebral palsy to Australia.
Their business, Robofit, was born as a result of Dan’s accident and has helped people across the Illawarra, Sydney and Brisbane, and recently received the City of Wollongong Innovation Achievement award.
“We were only in our early 20s when Dan had his accident, and were pretty naive,” Maryanne said.
“I was studying exercise physiology and learnt about neuroplasticity. The options in Australia were pretty limited and we were told we just had to accept what happened.”
Not satisfied, the couple began to look overseas and came across a Japanese company, Cyberdyne, that manufactures exoskeletons.
The exoskeletons use electrodes to pick up signals from the brain and boost them for people who have interruptions to their brain-body connection due to illness or injury.
They can even work on people who are not able to produce signals at all.
The couple travelled to Japan to try a prototype and saw improvements in Dan’s condition within a month.
When they returned to Australia, however, they found there wasn’t any interest in using the technology here, so they decided to do it themselves.
“It was a lengthy process to get it registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration,” Maryanne said.
“Then we had to get the right team in place, people who are passionate about the space we work in and exploring new and emerging technologies.
“Dan’s motto is ‘never say never’ and that determination in him has fuelled his personal progress and his desire to expand what we do.
“We started in North Wollongong; now we’re in Sydney, Brisbane and in a few weeks we’ll open a clinic in Parramatta.”
Dan still uses his wheelchair during the day but is now able to use a walking frame.
His next goal is to walk with crutches and get powered knee orthotics to help him get out of his chair independently.
It’s taken 15 years of hard work to get here, and Maryanne said that lived experience helped them connect with clients who faced similar challenges.
“We focus on what the individual’s goals are and look for those one per cent improvements that slowly stack up over time, and that might require technology or it might not,” she said.
“We have had clients stand and hug a loved one for the first time since their injury; others are able to independently transfer themselves which reduces their need for support.
“We have another client who is relearning to run, so he went from a manual chair to relearning to walk and now he’s onto his next goal. Others have returned to work.
“It’s about finding out what’s meaningful to the human, not just focussing on their condition.”
Maryanne said the recognition at the City of Wollongong Awards was a wonderful moment of recognition for their staff who worked with clients day in and day out.
From the business side of things, however, they feel like they’re just getting started.
In addition to the upcoming expansion the team at Robofit are always keen to partner with researchers looking to find new ways to treat neurological and spinal conditions.
“It is a really challenging journey but you have people that lighten the load along the way,” Maryanne said.
“I can’t put into words how rewarding it is to see Dan’s progress and the way he’s turned that to the benefit of other people as well.
“We feel very fortunate.”
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