“Living with MS, I created the Steady Buddy to help people walk with confidence, connection, and dignity.”
Hello, I’m Marlene Fox, and I’m the creator of the Steady Buddy.
I live with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and for more than 25 years walking has been one of my greatest challenges. I have fallen more times than I can count, from cracks in the sidewalk to crowded crosswalks, and by the age of 50, the wear and tear on my body required a double-hip replacement. Movement has always been essential to my health and joy, yet too often I felt unsteady, hesitant, and disconnected from the world around me.
The idea for the Steady Buddy came one winter day while walking with my husband Derrick. I held onto his arm for balance, but that meant he could not put his hands in his pockets on a freezing day. At that moment I wondered, what if there was something on his arm I could hold onto that gave me stability but still let him move freely? That question became the spark for the Steady Buddy, a first-of-its-kind wearable walking aid created to help people walk with confidence, connection, and dignity.