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A single winter crash can take away your freedom faster than you can process what happened. Reid Robinson knows that reality intimately, and he also knows what it looks like to fight your way back. After a brutal collision left him with a catastrophic lower leg injury and a long stretch of surgeries, setbacks, and pain, he ran into a second problem almost nobody warns you about: crutches can be their own kind of suffering. 

We sit down with Reid, COO of Robinson Exotech Corporation, to unpack the recovery journey that led to the X-Leg, a wearable knee crutch designed to keep you mobile while staying non-weight-bearing. Reid explains why most people use crutches wrong, how loading through the shoulders can cause real damage, and why putting all your weight through your hands turns everyday life into a punishing upper-body workout. Then he takes us into the origin story: patent searches, a first prototype welded in his garage, and the moment he realized he could walk again and even kick a soccer ball with his kids. 

We also dig into the realities of building a medical device business: Health Canada and FDA registration, iterative engineering and destructive testing, manufacturing costs, and how clinical studies and insurance reimbursement codes can change patient access. Along the way, Reid shares a grounded message he’d tell his younger self and anyone facing a hard season: you’re tougher than you think, and you’ll make it through. 

If this conversation helped you, subscribe, share it with someone recovering from an injury, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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