Brothers who dealt with concussions create shirt to help prevent this condition

Rob suffered a concussion while playing ice hockey.

"I was hit in open ice. Apparently, I did a backflip in the air and was unconscious for about 30 seconds. It was a pretty big hit. Honestly, if it wasn't for the (safety) protocols that they had in place… I think my story would be very different today”, he recalled.

His brother Charles had a similar experience while playing sports. "The effect it had on me was pretty profound. I really found that after that concussion, which was my most severe, that my cognitive process had slowed. It was almost six years before I actually felt sort of back to normal”, he observed.

These experiences led the brothers to build Halo, a protective compression shirt that can help reduce whiplash and concussion-related injuries. According to the inventors, Halo is the first device of its kind in the market.

They came up with this solution after three and a half years of research, tests and designs. It allows users to play contact and motorsports wearing a comfortable and protective garment.

Halo features a protective collar that supports the back of the neck and stiffens on impact.

"The way the material is made is that the harder and faster you try to deform it, the more it resists deformation. The material doesn't go rigid, it just stiffens up enough to slow everything down”, Charles explained.

The shirt has been tested by the Canadian Department of National Defence as well as the University of Waterloo's Impact Mechanics Lab.

“Our patented Smartcore™ technology slows down rapid head and neck acceleration during impacts and collision by up to 40%”, it says on the official website.

The brothers founded their own company, Advanced Exoskeletal Systems, and first introduced Halo by launching a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.

Halo is available in different colours, sizes and styles and can be bought online starting at $119.99.

Adapted from: https://bit.ly/2Z6jbeK

More info: https://aexos.ca/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyyf0LXErAM