Two brothers invent oxygen reeling device

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – For most seniors, the idea of ​​being tied to an oxygen machine feels restrictive. But two brothers came up with a way to reverse that.

It all started in April 2022, when Austin and Alex’s grandfather, who was using oxygen tubing, fell. “It piled up at the foot of his bed. When he got up to go to the bathroom, he tripped on it, and that fall was sent to the hospital,” Austin Pollock explained.

Reel free

Knowing their curiosity about technology, the boy’s grandfather looked to them for a solution. “He came to us and asked us if we could make a device to organize his oxygen tubes as he moved around his habitat, and created a few different prototypes for him to test and use,” Pollock said.

Austin and Alex worked it down to exactly what he was looking for. What they came up with is similar to a reel for a garden house that they came up with: ‘Reel Free’.

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“We created the reel, kind of derived from a garden hose reel that spins up, but automated with a remote control,” Pollock explains. With the click of a button, the 15 meter long hose is rolled back. Called “Reel Free,” the device effectively eliminates tripping hazards.

“He uses a remote control when he goes to the oxygen concentrator or tank to keep the hose out from under his feet,” says Pollock. This means the hose should never roll up, which prevents tripping hazards for everyone in the house.

Once their grandfather’s problem was resolved, the brothers turned to social media. “So I posted the video on LinkedIn with a GoFundMe. We raised $570 and blew through more than double that. People said, ‘We want to help you,’” Pollock explains.

Reel free

Investors soon came in. One investor was so excited about Reel Free that he wanted his wife to have his own reel.

“We had someone, another MSU alumni, contact us and he wanted to get his hands on the device,” Pollock said.

Paul Woodruff, like the Pollock brothers’ grandfather, found his own wife’s oxygen tube troublesome. “That is not only a tripping hazard for her, but also for her husband! Everyone still in the house, Woodruff pointed out.

Because he was so impressed by the brother’s ideas, Paul took the plunge to help them. “I volunteered to be everything I could be as a long-distance coach,” Woodruff said.

Expect Paul had one condition. “I said, I gotta have one!” Woodruff emphasized.

Paul and his wife Marcia acted somewhat as unofficial product testers, sending little notes to the brothers. While it also attracts some attention.

Reel free

“Anyone who has dealt with people like Marcia in the medical field, when they see this, they say, oh my God. Where did you get this? How do I get it? It sells itself,” he said. Woodruff.

Now established at the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, the brothers are eager to launch. While we also look back at grandpa. “He would be happy that we are keeping our promise to him to get this into the hands of other people who need it just like him,” Alex Pollock emphasized.

For more information about Reel Free, click here. Click here to join the waitlist for a Reel Free device.

FROM ACCIDENT TO INNOVATION: Two brothers invent the oxygen reel device

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