Marlee's Story

"Marlee has been lucky enough to trial the awesome ‘Hero inflatable rash guard’ this past few weeks. And what a vest it is, not just for its safety value but it’s assistance with therapy and fun!

This suit can be manually inflated and due to its clever design easily deflated via the inflation tube. When a CO2 cartridge is in place you can pull the cord in an emergency and it will fully inflate turning the wearer onto their back instantly. As an added benefit, for safety, a water sensor can also be attached - eg if you’re travelling on a boat and there is a mishap and you end up in the water no blowing is required, no cord needs pulling the very minute you hit the water the sensor triggers the suit to inflate, again rolling the wearer onto their back - Legendary. But there is more, when we partially inflated the rashie it assisted with hydrotherapy exercises and everyday fun.

Australia Day was the first time we heard of it & within a couple of hours Marlee was suited up ready to test it out (in a cold pool to boot) (thanks for dropping it in Peter) - I can assure you it wasn’t the suit that was causing her concern in the first video it was the water temp.

The next day she couldn’t wait to head to the heated pool to give it a real run. She wore it deflated on the way and for over 1 hour in the pool with no dramas. She jumped (scooted)in from the edge of the pool more than 10 times just like every other child 👏🏻👏🏻☺️☺️

We partially inflated it and carried out her hydrotherapy walking in water exercises - I was able to hold her just above the knees and she walked through the water, with ease and there was no trunk beating (backwards and forwards) she was stable! Without the suit I have to hold her at the pelvis as she isn’t stable Enough to hold lower. Needless to say we have used it every pool visit since.

The following weekend she attended a birthday party at bold park pool. The kids were on an inflatable obstacle course in a 1.6m pool (I could just touch the bottom - I partially inflated the suit popped Marlee on the edge and jumped in. I then lowered her her down into the water and held her on my hip, treading water up and down the lane following her mates along. It was so so easy to support her even without touching the bottom. Once in the warm pool she mucked about with her mates in her bean bag floater and because she was wearing the vest and it was inflated a little more I was comfortable to hold back a bit and let her mates tow her about. Those smiles were priceless!"