My Baby is 20 Years Old – A Short Story about the Birth of the EasyStand (Part II)

This is Part 2 of a 2 Part Story, written by Alan Tholkes, C6-7 quadriplegic, Founder of Altimate Medical and inventor of the EasyStand standing frame.  Read Alan’s first-hand story about the events that led up to the birth of the EasyStand for people who use wheelchairs. To read Part 1, click here.

ALT (now Altimate Medical) started by selling a manual wheelchair, then later the EasyStand.

A Bump on the Head ­ the Start of ALT
I was in my fairly new “lightweight wheelchair” which medical assistance had purchased. These new performance chairs were just introduced in the early 1980′s. I really loved how easy it was to push, it was light years ahead of my 50+ pound chrome E & J wheelchair. Now I could go places I could never go before and it was a cool color which I thought made me look “cooler”. However, I had one problem after another with something breaking. I was in my kitchen by the sink and as I lifted myself up pushing on the tubular steel arms, I heard a loud snap as the weld broke and the wheelchair arm gave way. The edge of the kitchen counter provided a stop for the top of my forehead as I was heading for the floor so I didn’t fall out of my chair, however, I was knocked a little silly and the new gash in my head was bleeding quite a bit. I went to the hospital to have it checked out and they gave my seven stitches.  The next day I was looking in the fridge, and after staring at the cheese for a bit, I then planned my next venture. I figured I had to make my own opportunity, I decided to call the manufacturer of my wheelchair. I told the customer service person vibrantly about all the problems I’ve been having with their product and about the seven stitches in my head. I told her in a stern voice that I want one hundred dollars for each stitch in my head and I want it in one week and I repeated, “that means I expect a check here for seven hundred dollars in seven days or will immediately contact an attorney to deal with this.” I received a check for $700 a week later. I thought it was fair and I now had the seed capital for my next venture ALT Design (ALT are my initials the company later changed its name to Altimate Medical Inc). I began work right away on my new company. I decided to design a new “quality” lightweight wheelchair that would revolutionize the wheelchair industry and improve the lives of wheelchair users everywhere. I carefully used the first $20 to purchase scissors, glue, paper, pencils, a ruler, straws, toothpicks and some office supplies. I started drawing, designing and making models of wheelchairs. I like to say I was “motivated because of current product dissatisfaction” but deep down I was sick of the welfare cheese. I had 3 objectives in mind:  (1) I wanted a chair that was lightweight and rigid (2) I wanted a chair you could make narrower while in it, i.e. small bathroom doors (3) I wanted a chair that would fold as small as a briefcase with the wheels off.

Alan wanted to design a wheelchair that would fold up to fit thru smaller doorways.

The First Wheelchair Prototype
My childhood years that included countless hours building stuff with blocks, model building kits, metal erector set complete with nuts, bolts, servo motors and pulleys paid off. I thank God I didn’t have the kind of mindless toys and video games kids play with now. I had to create stuff with next to nothing using my hands and imagination. Soon I had designed an innovative scaled down mechanism with straws, toothpicks, cardboard and glue.  The folding mechanism would open and close a wheelchair keeping the wheels straight (no toe in or out) and allowed someone to narrow the chair while in it and it folded as small as a briefcase.  Next I decided to make a full scale prototype. I had used around $18 to buy pizza and beer to celebrate. I only had about $662 left to build something that would be good enough to entice potential investors to bring it to the next level. I borrowed an old welder from my uncle who had a farm, and brought it home to set it up in my 8′x9′ kitchen.  I then unplugged my stove, plugged in the welder and purchased some 7/8″ round 16 gauge steel tubing and some other metal shapes and sizes. I borrowed a cut off saw and drill from a friend and I had another friend who knew how to weld (if I provided a few beers he’d do the welding and basic fabricating). I was able to round up miscellaneous wheelchair parts like brakes, wheels, and casters from an old wheelchair that I had laying around. I used up the $700 but I had a workable full scale prototype. With my wheelchair prototype, complete business plan, and three years of sales experience I was able to sell my idea to an investor whose money helped me move forward. Many things happened in the next two years that were critical in getting the business started (which would take pages to talk about).

Thinking Outside the Wheelchair
A little before 1988 I realized the wheelchair product line I had started the company with was not generating enough cash for the business to survive, and I need other products to market. I now had some resources, equipment, design experience and a few smart production and fabrication people around. We created several fairly innovative products but the one thing always on my mind was from my rehab and college experience in 1976. I wanted to stand and I wanted it to be easy for me and for others. I began designing a standing frame in 1988. I knew I didn’t want to use a strap, I didn’t like the pressure on my butt and on my knees as I went to the standing position and it was hard to use the strap. I wanted to be from my wheelchair to standing in seconds (my goal was under a minute) and I wanted to feel more secure. I figured the best method is to transfer to a seat with a back and have it lift you. I felt if someone couldn’t transfer they would have an attendant to assist them, it was still much easier then using the strap. I remember working with my employees designing, fabricating, welding prototypes late in the night. I was the guinea pig since I was the one in the wheelchair and only I would know if it felt “right”. I would try them out, hoping a tack weld wouldn’t break (or my leg from some unforeseen stress). In product design if you make even one small change anywhere it affects countless other things. We were trying to get a good product designed and to market as quickly as possible. Money was always running out and getting harder to find.

The first EasyStand was sold in September 1989. The design has evolved greatly over the past twenty years, but the overall concept is the same.

The Birth of the EasyStand
After over a year of work and many prototypes, we finally had the first standing frame designed, tooled up and ready to introduce to the market. We were going to call our new standing frame the “StandEx” because we had designed an exercise attachment that could be used while standing. The night before we were going to print our first brochure we decided at the last minute to rename it the “EasyStand“. It just sounded better and reflected what the product was really about. We called the printer first thing in the morning and had the name changed.  We received our first marketing pieces a few days later and we sold our first EasyStand in September 1989. The first EasyStand design was extremely heavy and crude compared to today’s EasyStand but it worked great and the concept has never changed. I believe there are still a few of our first EasyStands around, still standing people and lifting people’s spirits. The rest is history. In the past 20 years many talented and caring people have helped improve and expand the EasyStand product line, and many options and accessories have been added.  The EasyStand product line has helped over fifty thousand people of all ages all over the world live a healthier and better life and it will help thousands more in the future.

Happy 20^th Birthday EasyStand! Keep up the Good Work!