‘Made me tear up’: Fundraising campaign launched to buy robot legs for young boy with cerebral palsy

Elliot Burns had a challenging start to life. He was born premature at just 32 weeks and spent the next two months in hospital fighting for his life.

Genevieve Parent is Elliot’s mother and was warned that he could suffer lifelong consequences from his troubled birth.

“We knew from the get-go that potentially he would have disabilities, although we didn’t really know what it would be and what it would display like,” said Parent.

Soon, it became clear to doctors what Elliot was up against.

“He ended up having cerebral palsy and he’s a quadriplegic,” said his mother. ”He can move willingly, but it’s complicated for him."

Parent calls her son a fighter and her inspiration. She says he has never let his disability hold him back. Now, at the age of eight, her son is wheelchair-bound.

For Elliot to build strength – which in the long term will also alleviate body pain as he grows – he has to do daily walking exercises in a traditional walker that is both cumbersome and difficult.

Marc Robert is a sales associate with the Ontario-based company Trexo Robotics. The company produces smart robotic legs that attach to a walker.

“Any kid with a motor impairment, we can usually work with,” said Robert. “The beauty of it is we are able to track the effort that the child is putting into each step and then alter the settings on the machine based on the read out that we’re getting.”

It’s an expensive device, coming in at around $50,000. Last week, the company came to Victoria to allow families who have children with disabilities to try out the device for themselves.

“(We went) knowing that this was a very expensive device that I have no means to provide for him, but I wanted to give him the experience and give it a try,” said Parent.

What her son experienced was nothing short of transformative. Elliot’s face lit up as he began to walk independently for the first time in his life. His entire demeanor changed.

“He is normally very hunched down and he raised up; his little hands were very soft which means his muscles were not contracted,” said Elliot’s mother.

For the first time ever, Elliot and his mother held hands as they walked together.

“It really made me tear up,” said Parent.

Afterwards, Parent shared the family’s experience on social media, knowing that that was most likely the last time Elliot would get a chance to use the robotic device. Then, many online pitched an idea: Establish a fundraiser to purchase a pair of robotic legs for the eight-year-old boy.

That campaign has now been launched through the website supportnow.org. It operates like a GoFundMe, but was developed for families with kids who have special needs. It will allow 100 per cent of the donations to go directly to the cause.

“I want to be able to give him a way to experience the world in a different dimension,” said Parent. “There is nothing in the world that I wouldn’t give for that.”