The “ You Can Do It All ” Wrap
By Shana Jones
When she first laid eyes on it , soft pink and decked out with dancing butterflies , all she saw was a “ medieval contraption ; a torture chamber ; a hard , heavy piece of body armour ”. It was to provide the support , stability and all the blah blah blah of the industry standard that everyone was using , but ….. no way . There had to be something else out there , and she would find it . The firebrand New Zealand mom who would later trailblaze with highly customized accessible restroom facilities would find a better alternative and if there were none , she would simply create one .
A few years earlier , Jenn Hooper ’ s daughter Charley had suffered a massive brain injury shortly after birth that had left her with severe cerebral palsy and , among other conditions , low truncal tone . Low truncal tone , or limited muscle control and strength in the trunk of the body , prevents people from being able to stand or sit erectly . The muscle tone that holds the trunk in certain positions simply isn ’ t there , so over time , the spine becomes more and more curved . In extreme cases like Charley ’ s , even holding a child upright for feeding is difficult , and supports must be positioned around the body to keep it in certain positions while the child sleeps .
The thoracolumbosacral orthosis ( TLSO ) brace has long been a default solution for various causes of unnatural spinal curvature , but getting patients to wear it consistently remains a challenge . It restricts spinal and general body movement , rendering exercise , dancing , and playing sports almost impossible . Patients complain of difficulty breathing and soreness due to pressure on different parts of the body . What ’ s more , the brace must be worn upwards of 23 hours per day often for extended periods of time ( think years ) to be effective . Even in successful cases where surgery is avoided , some residual spinal curvature remains . Upon initially seeing Charley ’ s brace and
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