07/03/2025
Hi friends –– This is #3 in my series “Sharing What I’m Up To in the Web Design World” — and shamelessly promoting my valuable and dangerously effective design skills. 😉
Meet Mark Connolly. He has a story to tell — it’s about a traumatic injury, defying the recovery odds and the birth of the Manta.
As Mark tells it: "It was a Friday and I was in the water down at East Beach by the wharf. The waves were looking good so I jumped in and was having a good time body surfing. Then, I took a wave, a tumble, and was thrown to the bottom landing on my head. This left me with a C4 C5 complete injury aka a broken neck. At some point I was rescued by a couple of guys in the water with maybe a minute and a half left or so, (you can only drink so much ocean)."
This catastrophic spinal cord injury left Mark paralyzed from the neck down, “I had no feeling, no movement from the neck down.” Doctors told him he would likely never walk again.
But through neurosurgery, physical and occupational therapy, enormous determination — a whole lot of faith — he eventually regained mobility.
During the many hours of aquatic rehab, Mark came to see a big flaw in the existing flotation devices:
❌ Not stable
❌ Not supportive for paralyzed bodies
❌ Not safe for functional movement
❌ Challenging for both patient and the supporting therapist
So out of his time in the therapy pool, a breakthrough idea was born.
The Manta is now a patented therapeutic device. It provides stable, adjustable support in the water for people with spinal cord injuries, neuromuscular disorders, or limited mobility.
Several versions of the Manta have since been developed for different needs — from rehab to resistance training to safe movement.
It is such a privilege to work with Mark, design the website for this life-changing innovation, and help bring it to the broader rehab and clinical community.
(Putting on another hat from a past life — working from Mark’s early concept and rough sketches, I also engineered the final Manta design and production drawings for manufacturing. But that’s another story.)
🌊 Click here to learn more about the Manta:
🔗 www.mantatherapy.net
📸 instagram.com/mantatherapy
And finally, if you’re launching something innovative; in health, wellness, or recovery — and you need support in the next web world move, I’d love to support your digital presence. Call for a free consult or simply some advice. I’d love to hear from you.
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