Mobility Designed is thankful for our community of users who continually remind us that the work we do is changing lives. This holiday season, we would like to highlight a user that not only sheds light on our M+D Community but also continues to bring joy to our Kansas City community and beyond!

Thankful for Letiah Fraser… a New York City native who now lives in Kansas City. Letiah was born with cerebral palsy which causes weakness in her arms and legs and affects her overall mobility. As a disability rights advocate and doctoral student, Letiah is very involved in improving the Kansas City community and we are proud to call her a part of our M+D Community!

Thankful for generous donations…

We were first introduced to Letiah’s story when a young man called explaining that his ministry group wanted to donate a pair of crutches to Letiah. The man described Letiah as “the most deserving” and “someone who always gives to others.” The group collected money and gifted a pair of M+D Crutches to Letiah. A few days later, our cofounder, Max, hand-delivered the crutches to her.

Fast-forward two years later…

One of our team members, Theresa, is at QuikTrip filling her car with gas. “I look over and someone is walking into the store on M+D Crutches. It was my first time seeing a M+D user out and about! When she came back out, I got out of my car and introduced myself with a business card. I was so glad to see she was using her crutches and it was evident she was using them a lot,” said Theresa. At the time, Letiah’s crutches were heavily used and needed some replacement parts – something we expect after 6 to 9 months of daily use. Theresa gave Letiah the contact information she would need to purchase additional accessories and knew that we would hear from her soon.

A couple of weeks after running into Theresa, Letiah came to our office to get fitted for a new pair of M+D Crutches. Because she uses her crutches every day to get from one place to another, she brought her well used pair into the office. Our co-founder and product designer, Max, had never seen M+D Crutches so well-loved, which at Mobility Designed is a huge compliment!

“She has done the most miles on her crutches out of any users we know,” said co-founder, Max.

Max and our product team fitted Letiah to a new pair of M+D Crutches and replaced many damaged and worn-out parts on her old pair. For daily crutch users, it’s important to have a backup set of crutches just in case something goes wrong.

Thankful for comfortable mobility…

Being able to rely on a working set of M+D Crutches is especially important for Letiah as she has moved on from her forearm crutches and hopes to never go back. Her old forearm crutches were causing more harm than good. “I switched to the M+D Crutches because the forearm crutches put all of my weight on my hands, and it was starting to cause pain in them. I wasn’t able to walk as long as I can, so now this (M+D Crutch) distributes the weight more evenly so it’s not all in my hands.”

Forearm Crutches

M+D Crutches

To keep her energy levels high and prevent her muscles from tightening,

Letiah likes to exercise in the form of walking and running. A couple of years ago, she began running in official 5K races that took place within the Kansas City community. Her continuous goal is to beat her personal record.

When it comes to racing, Letiah noticed a big change when switching from her traditional forearm crutches to the M+D Crutches. The M+D Crutches give her a sense of comfort as she is running her races. “The main difference I feel is the removed pressure from my wrists and hands, but also because of the way the crutch bottoms are made. The tips kind of go with your body and you’re not fighting against a lot of other things as you walk. Most times, if my M+D Crutch catches something, I can catch myself easier before I fall. And I don’t usually end up falling.”

As a runner, staying in shape is something that is important to Letiah. But staying in shape is not always easy, especially when the pandemic hit in March of 2020 and Letiah didn’t have the opportunity to run as much. “I raced before the pandemic, like a year or two before, and then the pandemic happened. I had lost all my endurance and health that I had gained. My motivation to get back to running was when my doctor told me I needed to get back in shape.”

Thankful for Achilles International…

Letiah has always been an active person, but she first got into competitive running in March 2021 when she joined an Achilles International Chapter in Kansas City. Her chapter, Achilles Kansas City, is a younger chapter with a smaller group of about six individuals. The group practices once a week with the hopes of improving personal records. Each member lives with a different disability, but on race day the group comes together to motivate each other and finish the race!

“Signing up for a race is just like getting a tattoo… You have to commit.”

If you’re interested in becoming a part of Achilles Kansas City as a volunteer or member, contact Kelly Trujillo by clicking here.

Thankful for our M+D Community…

M+D is honored our products keep wonderful people like Letiah active and healthy. Every user has a different story, yet they all share a determination to live life to the fullest. We are just here to add a little support! Read more about our growing M+D Community or contact us if you would like to share your story.