An out-of-warranty battery almost left this paralyzed man’s exoskeleton useless

Michael Straight, a former jockey paralyzed from the waist down, was left unable to walk for two months after the company behind his $100,000 exoskeleton refused to fix a battery issue, as reported earlier by the Paulick Report and 404 Media. “I called [the company] thinking it was no big deal, yet I was told they stopped working on any machine that was 5 years or older,” Straight wrote on Facebook, referring to a wiring problem in the watch he wears to operate the machine.

“I find it very hard to believe after paying nearly $100,000 for the machine and training that a $20 battery for the watch is the reason I can’t walk anymore?” he wrote. Straight has been using the ReWalk exoskeleton since 2014, following a horseback riding accident…

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