by Anna Cooper—Associate Editor

Necessity is the mother of invention, and Gary and Nancy Morris saw a necessity while visiting friends. The two invented what has become known as the 2019 International Safe Patient  Handling Mobility Technology Innovation—the FOOTBAR® Walker. They started a new company, GANM, LLC, where they manufacture something that really helps not only the people who depend on walkers but their caregivers too. Their goal is to make the lives of their customers easier and it’s an admirable goal. The FOOTBAR® Walker achieves that goal. 

In 2014, while Gary and Nancy were visiting friends they were surprised to see a situation. Peggy and George White had been friends of the Morris’s for years. George was a WWII Veteran from Danville, Kentucky, was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, essential tremors, and was recuperating from a third hip replacement at 88 years old. Peggy really did not want to put her husband George in a nursing home, but pulling on him to help him stand was taking a toll on her health as well. She was 86 years old and was his only caregiver. Gary thought,  “I’ve got to do something to help them. I just know I can come up with something.” The Morris’s had to head home to Paris, TN soon after the visit, but the shock of seeing the changes happening with their friends really laid heavily on their hearts and minds. 

Before Gary retired from the TVA at Gleason, TN as a combustion turbine technician, he had been an EMT and a firefighter. Designing some sort of aid to help a friend was a personal challenge, but he had always loved to tinker and make things. Being newly retired with a lot of time on his hands. Nancy explained that Gary went out to his shop where he started trying to make adjustments and additions to a standard walker in such a way that would aid Peggy in taking care of George. “He thought of the top bar, and after some trial and error with different ideas, he came in one day at lunch, with his latest prototype and he asked my opinion. I told him that I thought it might be a tripping hazard and I said ‘Why don’t you just put something here between the front two legs of this walker that Peggy could put her foot on and that would hold the walker in place, while they counter pull on the top bar and George could pull himself up, without her actually bending and pulling on him physically. So with a bar across the top and now a  foot bar at the front wheel section of the walker they put their ideas together and Gary created a way to finally help their friends in Kentucky. 

Peggy White, now 91 years old, explained over the phone that the device, “just revolutionized my care of him.” When we asked Peggy if she recommended the FOOTBAR® Walker she had three words to say: “Do I Ever!” She went on to tell us how much it saved her in medical costs (an estimated $192,000) since she ended up being able to care for George for almost four years before she just wasn’t able to anymore. “I’ll tell you it was my salvation and I cannot recommend it highly enough. In fact, a friend of mine whose husband is over at a nursing home in another adjoining town to us just bought one and he’s happy with it too. Everyone that’s had it has been thrilled.” 

Besides adding bars to a walker, how does the FOOTBAR® Walker Standing Aid Accessory work and why does it help take the pressure off of caregivers and patients that need it? When someone who has their mobility restricted uses the device it not only helps them stand up it also helps them to sit without causing injuries to patients. Because the patient can hold the top bar while slowly lowering down. It also takes the pressure off of trying to push themselves up when they are weak and it physically hurts to push or pull on their joints. It also eliminates the stress on patient’s joints when others might otherwise be pulling on them. The FOOTBAR® Walker helps take that strain off of the patient’s wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Instead of pushing up they use the top pull bar to lift themselves up. It’s very much like pulling up on a church pew. Forward and upward. The Footbar®Walker can be used to actually exercise and build back leg, core, and arm strength, with less chance of injury.

Caregivers often injure themselves and become patients too. Statistics say that 70% of all caregivers over the age of 70 die before their patients. Professional caregivers also lose their careers at a rate of 13% per year, with 53% dealing with work-related injuries that also require time off work, Physical therapy, and/or operations to get back to work. Caregiving is a crisis in this country and around the world. 

The patent for the FOOTBAR® Walker was received on September 19, 2017. Nancy explained they “made the application for the patent in February of 2015. It took two and a half years for the patent to be a reality.  We had no plans to do anything until we had the patent. Most young people might have immediately gone into trying to produce it and make money. But we did not. We had hoped to get a larger walker company interested in our patented device but we were told we needed to prove its worthiness.  So we decided to at least try and make the FOOTBAR® walker available to as many as we could possibly afford to produce.”

Gary designed various parts for the FOOTBAR® walker and had them made mainly in Paris, TN, using neighboring fabricators and hoping to help the local economy, rather than have them made overseas. Gary assembles every single piece that goes on the walkers, but not the base walkers themselves. They have partnered with a walker company so they can add their creation to it. “Each and every walker is new. You’re not taking the chance” for it to be defective or weaken from prior use. Gary spends about three-four hours putting the FOOTBAR® Walker’s hardware on each device by hand. He’s even created some tools to make the process as easy and efficient as possible for himself. Gary joked that he was the nuts and bolts for the operation and Nancy was the brains. She does all the office and managerial duties.

Nancy entered their company in an international contest and they won First Place; the 2019 International Safe Patient Handling and Mobility (SPHM) Award sponsored by the International Journal of SPHM. “The best part was having judges from all over the world say that they thought we had a great idea too.” The Morris’s have had to deal with criticism from some saying that “you never teach people to pull on their walkers.”  SPHM said, “It is a secure pull bar and it can save not only the patient from more injury and pain but also saves a caregiver’s health or career.” They know that getting well is the ultimate goal, but there comes a time when getting along with the help of your caregiver from day to day is your best and only choice too. 

The creators of the FOOTBAR® Walker have invested a lot of time and effort into their product. They have won three other awards at the time this article will be published. They have won the University of Tennessee at Martin’s Future Star Award 2018 and their Rising Star Award 2019. The WNBJ 39 News “Made in Tennessee,” 1st place, and the “Viewers Favorite” Award in Jackson, Tennessee. Gary and Nancy also gave Shark Tank a try by auditioning for a spot on the show. “The audition was at the Nashville Fairgrounds in March 2019 for Season 11. We went before a young female producer from California. Not sure she understood or appreciated the need for our walker. We might have had better luck with Mr. Wonderful himself due to his age. But since many had teased us that we needed to be on Shark Tank. We wanted to at least try when the auditions were that close. We did and nothing ever came of it. Except, now when people tell us ‘You two should be on Shark Tank!’ We can always say  ‘We Tried.’ Trying is what got us into this business and God has blessed us and the people that have bought our Footbar® Walkers. Not the retirement that we dreamed about, but it has been a very fulfilling one.”

If you’re interested in a FOOTBAR® Walker contact Gary and Nancy Morris (GANM, LLC) at 731-924-4444 or online at www.thefootbarwalker.com. They are located at 130 Highway 69 North, Paris, Tennessee 38242.