A Mother Was Told Her Son Might Never Walk — So She Created a Way for Him to Experience Walking

When Debby Elnatan was told that her young son might never walk independently, she was confronted with a reality that no parent wants to hear.

Her son, Rotem, had cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that affected his movement and made independent mobility extremely difficult. According to accounts Elnatan later shared with the media, medical professionals told her when Rotem was about two years old that he had little awareness of his legs.

For many parents, such a diagnosis could make the future seem painfully limited.

But Debby focused on a different question.

If Rotem could not walk by himself, did that necessarily mean he should never experience what standing and walking felt like?

She decided the answer did not have to be yes.

Instead of accepting that her son would spend his childhood almost entirely sitting or being carried, Elnatan began experimenting with ways to support his body while allowing him to move together with an adult.

What began as a mother's desperate attempt to give her son a different kind of childhood eventually became the foundation for the Upsee, a mobility device designed to allow children with significant motor impairments to stand and move with the assistance of an adult.

The invention would eventually reach families far beyond the Elnatan household.

But its story began with one mother, one child and a simple desire: to let her son experience the world from his feet.

The Diagnosis That Changed a Family's Life

Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders affecting movement, balance and posture. The condition originates from abnormalities or injury affecting the developing brain and can vary significantly from one person to another.

Some people with cerebral palsy can walk independently, while others require mobility aids or wheelchairs throughout their lives.

For Rotem, mobility presented major challenges.

Elnatan later recalled being told that her son did not appear to understand or have much awareness of his legs. The statement was particularly difficult for her because it seemed to suggest that walking was not merely difficult — it might not even be meaningful or achievable for him.

But Debby was unwilling to define her son's childhood solely by what he could not do.

She wanted Rotem to participate in ordinary family activities.

She wanted him to be able to stand beside his parents.

She wanted him to interact with his siblings at their level rather than always experiencing the world from a wheelchair or from someone's arms.

And she wanted him to have the opportunity to explore.

The idea was not necessarily to "cure" cerebral palsy.

It was to create opportunities.

A Mother's Experiment

The first version of what would become Upsee was not a sophisticated medical product.

It was an improvised solution created because Debby could not find something that met her son's needs.

She experimented with ways of supporting Rotem while allowing her own body to provide much of the balance and stability he required.

Eventually, she developed a concept in which the child could be secured to an adult at the waist while their feet were connected through specially designed footwear.

The arrangement meant that when the adult took a step, the child could move with them.

It was deceptively simple.

The adult effectively became the child's support system.

The child could stand upright without having to independently control all of the muscles and balance required for unsupported walking.

According to contemporary reports, Elnatan's early experiments eventually allowed Rotem to stand and take steps with her and his father.

For Debby, those moments represented much more than physical movement.

They meant her son could experience something many children take for granted.

He could be upright.

He could move through the house.

He could go outside.

He could interact with people while standing next to them.

He could experience his environment from a completely different physical perspective.

The Device That Became Upsee

The concept eventually developed into the Firefly Upsee.

The commercial device consists of several interconnected components, including an adult hip belt, a harness supporting the child and specially designed sandals that allow the adult and child to move together. The manufacturer describes it as a mobility harness intended to help children with motor impairment stand and move with adult assistance.

The design addresses a fundamental problem.

A child with severe motor impairment may have the desire to stand or move but lack sufficient balance, muscle control or coordination to do so independently.

An adult can provide the stability and forward movement.

Instead of the child being passively carried, however, the child is positioned upright and participates in the movement.

That distinction is important.

Upsee does not magically restore normal walking ability.

It does not mean that a child using the device will eventually walk independently.