Everybody should have equal access to an active life

Levitate. 

The word derives from the Latin “levare” and means the ability to make things float in the air.

It is also the name of the startup that Lasse W. Madsen founded in 2020, which has since given back hope to thousands of people worldwide.

Hopes were slim when Lasse W. Madsen was 14 years old and lying in a hospital bed with a shattered leg after a traffic accident. It was so damaged that it had to be amputated just above the knee. 

“I had done gymnastics since I was three years old and I was due to start at a sports college called Vejstrup Gymnastikefterskole nine months later. But when I asked the doctor when I could do sports again, the reply was that it would probably never be possible again, as prices of sports prostheses were sky-high and not covered by any kind of insurance,” recalls Lasse W. Madsen. 

Useful knowledge about prostheses

Fortunately, Lasse W. Madsen had a good prosthetist who found some spare parts in the basement of the hospital and put together an artificial leg for him. The prosthetist also taught him how a prosthesis works and not least how to take it apart and put it back together. This knowledge would prove very useful to him many years later.

But first Lasse W. Madsen trained so hard to learn to walk, run and do gymnastics that he managed to start at the sports college. Later he trained as a civil engineer and subsequently worked as a development director at a global company that manufactures maritime rescue equipment.

“I travelled all over the world, but in 2019 I decided to stop after I had finished a very big project. Then I started doing lots of sports again and needed a new sports prosthesis because the old one no longer fitted.  But then I faced the same problem as when I was 14: not all municipal authorities or insurance companies are willing to pay for a sports prosthesis,” says Lasse W. Madsen.

Affordable prostheses

So he went to his old university, DTU Risø, to find help to develop a prosthetic leg that was cheaper than what was available on the market. Here he made contact with scientists who build large-scale prototypes and test the strength and durability of large structures such as wind turbine blades. While Lasse W. Madsen was learning to manufacture and process strong and light composite components, he got in touch with DTU Link, which matches scientists and startups. That helped him to develop and test his running blade in DTU’s workshops and labs.

“At first I just intended to build a prosthetic leg for myself. But when it worked I was encouraged to offer it to other leg amputees,” explains Lasse W. Madsen.

The result was the company Levitate, which is based on the idea that amputees should be able to go online to buy parts to build their own leg at a price comparable to a bicycle rather than a car.

My ambition has been to democratise the prosthesis industry to give all leg amputees the opportunity to get a customised prosthesis at an affordable price. It shouldn’t depend on who you happen to meet or how much money you have," says Lasse W. Madsen, whose ambition has given back hope to the thousands of leg amputees who until now have not had the opportunity to live an active life. 

During the first years he delivered more than 1,000 prostheses to the US where the “buy online and install at home” mentality was a perfect match for Levitate’s product.

“This opened up for a life that leg amputees had not had previously and for a payment model that allowed them to make their own decisions. Instead of waiting months for approvals of expenses and the manufacture of prostheses, they could go out running three days after buying our prosthesis online themselves,” says Lasse W. Madsen, who today exports to more than 20 countries.

“Just like my prosthetist set me free when I was 14, we have set amputees all over the world free to have an active life by explaining to them how prostheses work and helping them to help themselves. Suddenly they have hope for the future,” says Lasse W. Madsen.

Hverdagsproteser

Det har affødt nye spørgsmål fra målgruppen: Hvis I kan lave min sportsprotese, hvorfor kan I så ikke lave mit rigtige ben?

Derfor har Levitate nu også udviklet en hybridprotese, der kan bruges til både hverdag og sport, og den har – på en trist baggrund – solgt godt fra begyndelsen. For i Ukraine har der været mindst 60.000 amputationer pga. krigen, uden at sundhedssystemet er gearet til den gigantiske pukkel af efterspørgsel efter proteser. Så Levitate samarbejder med både interesseorganisationer, hospitaler, rehabiliteringsklinikker og bandagister om at give de sårede ukrainske soldater mest mulig førlighed tilbage hurtigst muligt, så de kan vende tilbage til livet på den bedst mulige måde.

”De, der mister ben og arme i Ukraine, er unge aktive mænd og kvinder, som kommer fra at have et fuldstændigt normalt liv til at miste deres førlighed fra det ene øjeblik til det andet. Det er traumatisk i sig selv. Men hvis de derudover bare ligger i en hospitalsseng i månedsvis og venter på en protese, risikerer de at blive deprimerede,” siger Lasse W. Madsen.

Han tøver ikke, når han skal forklare, hvad det betyder at have skabt noget, der er til så stor gavn for så mange.

”Det gør, at min egen ulykke ikke har været forgæves. For selvom den ændrede mit liv dramatisk, så har jeg også ændret tusindvis af andre menneskers liv med min protese ved at bygge den fremtid, jeg gerne selv vil leve i,” siger Lasse W. Madsen, der stadig har drømme for fremtiden.

Han vil gerne se Levitates mission lykkes på globalt plan, så alle amputerede hele livet igennem kan få en protese, der gør dem selvhjulpne – ikke bare i USA og Europa, men også i Indien og Afrika.

Og derfor har Lasse W. Madsen også en åben invitation til det etablerede system.

”Jeg ville ønske, at de, der sidder i det offentlige og bevilliger hjælp, i højere grad havde øjne og ører åbne for, hvilken innovation der bliver lavet i Danmark. For der sidder rigtig mange iværksættere og bygger løsninger, der for de samme penge kan give mange flere folk, der lever med handicap, mange flere muligheder,” siger han.

For målet er at få mennesker, drømme og håb til at svæve.

From test run event in Lviv, Ukraine.