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The History of Thomas
Fetterman's Crutches
I've been using crutches
since I had polio 51 years ago. As a user of crutches for all these years I
have become painfully aware of their design limitations.
Back in the early eighties, I developed shoulder pain that increased with
activity. To make matters worse I was slipping and falling down far too
often. My doctor said I had inflamed shoulder joints due to the constant
impact associated with crutch use. He said I should slow down and take
aspirin! Instead, I invented a patented crutch tip with a built-in shock
absorbing gel system. Slowly but surely my shoulder pain disappeared. And I
fall far less.
In 1988 I began manufacturing and selling my patented crutch tip technology
and have since sold over 70,000 pairs to satisfied customers. In 1991 I met
the owner of Enabling Technologies who design a great line of
outriggers and flipskis under their Superlite trademark. We began
building crutches accessorized with my patented Tornado or Performance
gel filled tips, Performance handgrips, Padded Leather Cuff Inserts
and Spats Door Guards in a full range of anodized colors. Superlite
crutches are custom made to fit our customers exact needs with no
adjustment holes to work loose and rattle. The White House
purchased a pair for President Clinton selecting these crutches over all the
competition. When questioned about his snazzy black Superlites,
President Clinton replied, "I
call them my 'Stealth' crutches...I think they were developed as an offshoot
of the B-2 technology. I like them quite a lot."
Subsequently, I've joined
with Ed Openshaw, expert wood craftsman, to hand make custom fitted
rosewood forearm and underarm crutches that are beautiful as well as
functional.
In early 2000 I had the good
fortune to team up with TiSport located in Kennewick, Washington,
makers of the worlds best Titanium wheelchairs. They now fabricate the bodies
all of my Titanium and Aluminum crutches and ship them to us in Philadelphia
where we cut them to size and install all the accessories. We are very proud
to sell them under our LiteStix label as these are the
most advanced, handsome and durable crutches on the planet.
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