Inventor from Naples makes it easier for seniors to reach the beach

The "greatest invention since the wheel."

That's how Eryk Hardwick, a former Naples resident, likes to describe his invention, a device that easily attaches to the bottom of walkers so they can slide through sand, gravel, mud and other rough terrain. It's called a Stability Glider. 

The invention came out of need, not for himself, but for others.

Hardwick, 51, a residential contractor by trade, got a heart-tugging request from a disabled client, who asked whether he knew a way he could get to the beach because his walker kept sinking in the sand.

Although Hardwick didn't have an answer right away, it didn't take him long to find one. Within a few weeks, he made metal feet to attach to the bottom of each side of the walker, which allowed his customer from Naples to reach the beach — and get into the water and swim.

"I thought I helped a guy, it was done and over," Hardwick said. "I was watching a baseball game one day and he called me up and said, 'I lost 30
pounds. I'm enjoying life again. This is great.' " 

Hardwick decided he wanted to help more people. So he got a utility patent for his idea in 2013.

Flash forward: Hardwick has found an energetic partner who believes in him and his product — and is leading efforts to market the device through a company called Stabilized Steps. 

"Using advanced engineering and innovation, we have developed a more distinct and dependable medical device attachment for walkers that allows them to be stable on uneven surfaces both indoors and outdoors," said Stephanie C. Gomez, co-founder, president and CEO of Stabilized Steps. "Our product will change many lives, including the caregivers, by giving individuals with mobility issues the freedom to move forward." 

Gomez, 29, put her own business on hold to partner with Hardwick, who now lives in Punta Gorda, and they returned to the drawing board to redesign the product. She took on about $200,000 in debt to create new molds and to get the company and the product where it is today, ready for commercial production, with the help of engineers who work for Ford, she said.

"I'm 100 percent behind this," Gomez said.

The device is designed to help prevent walkers from falling forward, backward or sideways. 

"We don't want anyone to get hurt," Gomez said. "So all our edges are curved." 

Gomez, a former commercial banker who grew up in Naples, was working as a business consultant in Southwest Florida when she met Hardwick in 2016. The meeting changed her life. 

"He had a hard life," she said. "Nobody would help him. He was a single dad, living in Naples." 

The partners believe their meeting was no accident.

"It was definitely a God thing. I'm definitely a firm believer. Both of us are," Hardwick said.

Gomez said she is in the venture to change people's lives, starting in her own backyard.

"We live in a paradise. We have so many people who stay indoors," she said. "Our hope is to get more people outdoors." 

It's been a "super long road" to bring the invention to market, Hardwick said, but it looks like he finally might succeed with the help of his enthusiastic, driven partner and maybe he can give up his day job — or at least not work as hard at it.

"I'm tired of being a carpenter," he said. "It's hot outside."

Stabilized Steps has about half a dozen employees. All of them are part-time, except Gomez, who said she works "80 hours a week."

"I wish I had more hours in the day," she said. "Friday comes so soon. Every week it flies by and soon it will be December." 

David Ferguson, a Naples business consultant, is part of the management team and a part-owner of the company. Gomez met him while she was a banker. She has tapped his 30 years of experience in executive management to help her navigate the waters of a startup. 

Ferguson was attracted to the opportunity because it involved good people, with a good mission to make "a positive difference in this world," he said.

"Not only is it going to be successful in the marketplace," Ferguson said of the product, "it's going to change people's lives. There's nothing else like it in the market."

As a strong believer in giving back to the community, he also likes that the company plans to support such charitable organizations as the multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's associations that serve people with balance and mobility problems. 

Stabilized Steps will show off its product at Medtrade Oct. 23-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The annual trade show will highlight the newest innovations in home medical equipment, and the company hopes to win this year's retail innovation award (its invention has made it into the top eight finalists).

"We need the votes. We have received tremendous feedback," Gomez said.

The product retails for $129.99 and can take the place of more traditional beach walkers, which can cost upwards of $1,000. The new device is rust-proof and carries a lifetime warranty.

A design patent is pending.

The product is manufactured in China because making it in the United States proved to be too costly, Gomez said. The first devices are expected to ship by the year's end.

Interest in the product continues to grow, from near and far. It's already available for sale at stabilizedsteps.com.

"I already have interest from a company in Mexico that wants to carry our product," Gomez said. "We are going to be selective when it comes to retailers." 

Stabilized Steps expects to launch a Kickstarter campaign soon to increase awareness about its product and to raise money for charity.

There are plans for more products, but those are under wraps for now. You might just catch the company's owners making a pitch to investors on the TV show "Shark Tank" — one day.