A father who wants to do more...

Martin Hjort has a son, Gustav, who has cerebral palsy. Martin didn’t feel that Gustav achieved enough results from going to physiotherapy once a week. So Martin established the company INNOVAID, where he works every day, making a difference for Gustav and others in similar situations.

In 2009, Martin Hjort attended physiotherapy every week with his son Gustav, who has cerebral palsy. At the physiotherapists, Gustav was given exercises to do at home with Martin. But for Gustav, then 3 years old, the exercises weren’t very motivating, and they didn’t bring the desired results. The exercises were good, but they weren’t enough. Gustav just needed that last push.

It frustrated Martin to see his son using his energy every day on exercises that felt like chores. It was important for Martin that Gustav had fun doing his exercises, while at the same time achieving good results that could bring him more quality of life.

Fun training

Martin Hjort, who is trained as an electronics engineer, decided to find a solution himself. The main idea was to make training fun for Gustav and make it possible to train at home, so training could fit in to a busy daily schedule. This idea turned into INNOVAID, a company that, among other things, produces the rehabilitation tool Happy Rehab. Happy Rehab is an interactive dynamic standing support system, where the user trains different muscle groups by using a computer game that is operated by the muscles to be trained. The system makes it possible to train at home, and Martin doesn’t have to be both father and therapist any more, but can let Happy Rehab be the therapist.

Clear progress

Today Gustav is 10 years old, and he can walk around without the support of a handrail. Martin is convinced that Gustav wouldn’t have made so much progress without periodical intensive training with Happy Rehab. It has given him the extra push he needed. At the same time, it is important for Martin to point out that Happy Rehab is not the only thing that has influenced Gustav’s progress. It must be combined with other activities in order to give optimal results.

Dreams for the future

For Martin it is very special job to help give people with, for example, cerebral palsy an easier life.

”It’s very motivating for me to go to work every day and make a difference”, says Martin.

He dreams of further developing his products, which today include Happy Rehab og TREAX pads. In addition, Martin dreams of developing new products through INNOVAID and expanding the assortment and the possibilities in the intersection between technology, training and activities.

Today Gustav has grown out of his first standing support. But he continues using Happy Rehab to maintain his level of progress. It’s good that the standing support systems come in different sizes, so there always will be one that fits Gustav.