Family Tragedy Helped This Entrepreneurial Couple Create a Business and Improve Lives Here's how chronic leg issues led to a redesigned crutch.
By Gary Bredow
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In 2008, Max Younger's dad, Dan, lost his leg to a staph infection after a lifetime of being on and off crutches due to multiple knee surgeries. Max's desire to make his dad's life better led him to put his industrial design skills to work and develop an ambulatory aid to replace the age-old civil war crutches.
After years of tinkering in the basement, thousands of prototypes and hours of conversations with his dad, Max and his wife Liliana created something they believed could change lives. When they incorporated Mobility Designed in December of 2014, Liliana left her full-time job and began pitching investors. A 2016 video of the M+D Crutch went viral. The company had to quickly react to the sudden explosion of global interest. Since the launch, Mobility Designed has sold in over 20 countries and 49 US states. It continues to expand its patent portfolio.