It\u2019s 10:30 a.m. on a warm day in mid-July, and Jamie McAnsh is sitting soaked in sweat on a log bench off to the side of the Grouse Grind trail on Vancouver\u2019s North Shore. He\u2019s about halfway up the 2.5-kilometre mountain trail, which includes 2,830 stairs, and he\u2019s taking a moment to reflect. <\/p>\n
\u201cStairs have always been something I shy away from because they\u2019ve always been hard,\u201d he says. Then, pointing to the orthosis device on his legs, he adds, \u201cThis doesn\u2019t make it necessarily easy, but it does make it possible.\u201d <\/p>\n
Possible is the point for Mr. McAnsh. <\/p>\n
Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Jamie McAnsh\u2019s neurological condition can give him intense, paralyzing pain, but he is determined to keep up an active lifestyle.<\/p>\n In his early 30s, the Brit was working as a sales executive for a motorcycle company in Wales, satisfying his love of the machines. He was also an avid runner, with an affinity for the outdoors. By all accounts, Mr. McAnsh led a relatively normal, active life.<\/p>\n Then, on Jan. 6, 2014, he suffered a neurological spasm overnight that caused nerve damage to his spine and sensory nerves in his lower body. He became partly paralyzed from the waist down.<\/p>\n Mr. McAnsh was later diagnosed with bilateral lower-limb complex regional pain syndrome, a rare, incurable neurological condition that led to him taking 16,000 milligrams of pain medication daily at one point. The pain was so intense it shut his body down.<\/p>\n Mr. McAnsh\u2019s condition is degenerative, and he will never fully recover. He used a wheelchair at first, and then later he transitioned to forearm crutches. But he became determined to climb back up \u2013 quite literally \u2013 and encourage others to do the same. <\/p>\n In 2022, he spent 11 days trekking to Everest Base Camp on crutches. Shortly thereafter, he set his sights on a new challenge: Mount Kilimanjaro. But in anticipation of climbing sections where he would need to use his arms to scale rock, Mr. McAnsh began searching for yet another mobility aid solution.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when he discovered a KAFO, or a knee-ankle-foot orthosis device, made by a French company, Thuasne. It was perfect. Their system, which looks like a leg brace with a hinge at the knee and a shoe insert, gave him a sense of independence that he didn\u2019t have on crutches or in a wheelchair, helping him relearn how to walk normally again.<\/p>\n So, he made his pitch to them. \u201cI basically just said, \u2018Look, I\u2019m climbing Kilimanjaro, and I want to do it in those structures, and I want to work with you,\u2019\u201d Mr. McAnsh said. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is one of the \u2018Seven Summits\u2019 that die-hard climbers seek out to test themselves.Goran Tomasevic\/Reuters<\/p>\n This was in June, 2024. Eight weeks later, he was climbing Kilimanjaro using the KAFO, proving to himself and others that the limits of what\u2019s possible with this technology are beyond what he or the company previously imagined. <\/p>\n \u201cI want everybody to be able to do what they want to do, and if that\u2019s taking a dog walk or playing with the kids, or whatever it is, then I want them to be able to feel that because I know what it\u2019s like to have that taken away from you,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when you\u2019re able-bodied, you don\u2019t appreciate it until you don\u2019t have it.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast-forward two years and Mr. McAnsh has hardly slowed down. Today, he\u2019s preparing to climb Mount Everest in 2028, and has several summits along the way to prove his own fitness, as well as the KAFO technology\u2019s readiness. <\/p>\n His first test: North Vancouver\u2019s Grouse Mountain. It\u2019s a fitting locale, since the orthosis Mr. McAnsh wants to wear to summit Everest won\u2019t be the same one that he wore to climb Kilimanjaro in 2024. This time, he\u2019s relying on Canadian technology, in part, to take him to the top.<\/p>\n Mr. McAnsh met Vancouver-based company Bionic Power through Thuasne after the two businesses collaborated to create the SpryStep Agilik KAFO \u2013 a medical device offering help with everyday mobility for patients with weakness in their legs.<\/p>\n Bionic Power\u2019s contribution, the Agilik, represents years of continuous research and development to create a device that attaches to the custom orthosis at the knee joint. It contains a motor and a gearbox and applies torque at the joint as programmed by a physician using real-time gait analysis from the sensors embedded in the rest of the orthosis. It builds on Thuasne\u2019s previous KAFO models, technology-wise, with its increased power and specificity to a user\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n Altogether, the SpryStep Agilik is a lightweight, modern alternative to the bulky, full-body exoskeleton-like devices of the past, making Bionic Power one of a suite of companies contributing to the normalization of this type of technology within society.<\/p>\n There are straps around Mr. McAnsh\u2019s waist, thighs and just below his knees as he scales the first few steps of the Grouse Grind. Sweat pools in the areas where the device fits snugly to his skin and clothes.<\/p>\n As part of the orthosis device Mr. McAnsh relies on to get around every day, he wears a battery pack that rests on his lower back. The device\u2019s carbon-fibre structure and soft straps mean Mr. McAnsh can almost forget he\u2019s wearing it, and given how much it reduces the pain he deals with on a daily basis, it\u2019s worth it regardless.<\/p>\n The Agilik collects data about his gait and movements, displayed in an app. The whole orthosis can be controlled either through the app or buttons on the side of the knee joint, where the motors sit. It\u2019s designed to help people with a range of gait impairments, which commonly occur with conditions such as cerebral palsy and spina bifida, or after a stroke. It helps with knee flexion and extension, providing resistance and assistance, and relies upon multiple sensors, including those embedded in a shoe insert, to detect a user\u2019s movements.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n The battery, sensors, braces and straps of the SpryStep Agilik KAFO are designed to be as lightweight as possible, so users like Mr. McAnsh can almost forget they\u2019re there.<\/p>\n Altogether, the cost of the device varies greatly from patient to patient. For example, in the United States, reimbursement can range from US$30,000 to US$40,000, but that includes a suite of care and fitting around the orthosis \u2013 not just the device itself. In some countries, such as the U.S., Germany and Australia, the device can be fully reimbursed through health insurance, said Gualtiero Guadagni, chief executive officer of Bionic Power. <\/p>\n However, in Canada, there\u2019s no streamlined pathway toward reimbursement for the Agilik, Mr. Guadagni said. \u201cIt\u2019s our backyard, it\u2019s our device. We are a Canadian company, and simply, the Canadian system doesn\u2019t make it easy for any patient to get it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr. McAnsh is lucky in the sense that he\u2019s able to use the device through a sponsorship deal with Bionic Power and Thuasne. It has become a lifeline for him, allowing him to move around more or less as an able-bodied person would.<\/p>\n For Mr. McAnsh, performing epic feats such as climbing Everest has become his way of spreading the word about what\u2019s possible with the right technology. <\/p>\n \u201cMy story is not unique. There are people that just sit on their ass, and they sit at home in this imprisonment of their own self-devaluation and go, \u2018My life\u2019s over,\u2019 when actually it\u2019s not,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cBut they don\u2019t even know that this kit exists. That\u2019s the point. It\u2019s getting them to know that this kit exists because that will give them hope.\u201d <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Gualtiero Guadagni is the CEO of Bionic Power, which developed the Agilik.<\/p>\n At Bionic Power\u2019s Vancouver office, it\u2019s the day before Mr. McAnsh is set to tackle the Grouse Grind, and he\u2019s seated across the table from Mr. Guadagni, who\u2019s scrolling on his phone. <\/p>\n He\u2019s looking at Mr. McAnsh\u2019s Instagram account, trying to find videos the adventurer sent him a week earlier after he strapped himself into a harness, dangled off the side of a cliff and climbed up a rock face using his Agilik.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he sent those, I was like, \u2018No, it\u2019s impossible,\u2019\u201d Mr. Guadagni said, adding that it reassured him heading into the next day\u2019s activities, seeing what both the device and Mr. McAnsh are capable of.<\/p>\n Make no mistake: Grouse Mountain is no Everest. Its peak reaches approximately 1,200 metres in elevation, whereas Everest\u2019s is at roughly 8,849 metres. The conditions and required fitness levels for each are drastically different. Grouse is a mountain locals race up before work. Everest claims the lives of several people every year in their attempts to summit.<\/p>\n But for Mr. McAnsh, Grouse is merely the first step in his own training and in the advancement of the technology that he plans to rely on for his Everest attempt. The Agilik is not made for climbing mountains; it\u2019s a custom orthosis designed for use at home, in rehab clinics and in everyday tasks. A battery charge usually lasts him a couple of days, and the lithium batteries, as well as the motors powering the device, were not necessarily designed with extreme winter conditions or excessive exertion in mind. <\/p>\n However, this hasn\u2019t stopped Mr. McAnsh from testing its limits and challenging the Agilik to keep up.<\/p>\n When Mr. McAnsh decides to do something that Bionic Power\u2019s roughly 27-person team hasn\u2019t run a test for, they\u2019re understandably nervous. But in the same breath, they\u2019re quick to consider the benefits.<\/p>\n The more he takes the orthosis to places it has never been, the more data they can collect on its performance and how it can be improved. <\/p>\n On the morning of the Grouse Grind ascent, it\u2019s an unusually buggy summer\u2019s day. Mr. McAnsh is about a quarter of the way up when he takes his first break. He\u2019s accompanied by a handful of Bionic Power employees, including Mr. Guadagni and several engineers, who had a hand in designing the Agilik. This pause is their first chance to disconnect and reconnect their phones to the device. This way, they say, the data files collected from the total hike will be separated into digestible chunks, rather than one huge file.<\/p>\n The data they collect can be used to help train Bionic Power\u2019s machine-learning models and contribute to the development of future Agilik iterations, Mr. Guadagni said.<\/p>\n However, when it comes to the model that Mr. McAnsh will wear on Everest, well, that\u2019s still undecided. Bionic Power is currently working with its partner, Thuasne, to decide on the best design for the challenge.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Mr. McAnsh will skip Everest’s treacherous Khumbu Icefall, where these climbers are training for an ascent of the mountain. The glacial landscape here shifts every day.Pasang Rinzee Sherpa\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n Beyond the technology strapped to his legs, Mr. McAnsh\u2019s ascent will be different in other ways from those of most climbers. For example, Mr. McAnsh will be climbing up the north face of the mountain, as opposed to the more popular southern route. This will take him into more adverse weather conditions, but it will protect him from the high risk of an avalanche or ice fall that he would have to navigate on the south side.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t run. It\u2019s something I can\u2019t do. So, I don\u2019t want to put myself into an avalanche situation. I also can\u2019t jump, so I don\u2019t want to put myself into the Khumbu Icefall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Then there are questions such as how many yaks Mr. McAnsh will have to hire to carry items unique to his journey, and how many batteries or what kind of charging infrastructure he will have to bring.<\/p>\n He makes his calculations. \u201cIf we need a generator, then we need to have a yak to carry the generator,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if we got a generator, we need to have fuel. So, if we have fuel, now you potentially have to have two yaks, one to carry the generator and one to carry the fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. McAnsh has dreamt of climbing Everest since he was seven years old. He had a picture of the mountain on a wall in his bedroom that he still carries with him. \u201cIt was always something that I would some day do. And then I woke up paralyzed.\u201d<\/p>\n But standing at the top of Grouse Mountain on a sunny day in mid-July, exhausted and exhilarated, Mr. McAnsh is proving yet again what\u2019s possible with some Canadian technology and a whole lot of willpower. <\/p>\n Grouse is no Everest, but it is two hours and 28 minutes, 2,830 stairs, and 777 metres of elevation closer to his goal.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I can stand on the summit of Everest, then who\u2019s out there that wants to just go to Walmart?\u201d<\/p>\n Body of evidence: More from The Globe and MailThe Decibel podcast<\/p>\n Maryam Fatima had her first seizure within minutes of being born. On bad days, she had hundreds. To save her brain, doctors would have to destroy part of it with a radical surgery,<\/a> never used in Canada before. Health science reporter Jennifer Yang spoke with The Decibel<\/a> about what happened next. Subscribe for more episodes.<\/a><\/p>\n From our health team<\/p>\n Inside a university anatomy lab where researchers study bodies Canadians have donated to science<\/a><\/p>\n