A Western Bay ambulance officer has invented a device that will help prevent broken hips.
Sean O'Connor says the protection device will give elderly people a new lease on life and potentially save millions of dollars in medical bills.
Now his invention is in the running for a major design award and competing against industry giants including Fisher & Paykel.
Mr O'Connor invented the Delloch HipFit hip protector as a way to decrease the thousands of hip fractures in New Zealand each year.
"I'm seeing people falling over and breaking their hip all the time so it got me thinking there's got to be a something better for these people than what's currently going on.
"So I started mucking around and began to develop initial designs for hip protectors."
Each year there are more than 250,000 falls which result in about 3000 hip fractures - that's one hip broken every three hours.
Mr O'Connor said each hip replacement cost about $26,000, this added about $78 million to New Zealand's medical bill which taxpayers had to pay.
There are a number of hip protectors already in the marketplace. However, Mr O'Connor said these were often found to be uncomfortable or did not fit properly and as a result, people did not tend to wear them.
"What's unique about this is that it moves up and down inside the garment to enable the hip to be protected 100 per cent of the time.
"Every person's ball and socket joint is at a different angle so the ability to move the shield is crucial.
"It also needed to look good and be comfortable otherwise people aren't going to wear them".
As well as assisting people who had hip replacements, the HipFit would also benefit people with osteoporosis and those who were unsteady on their feet and wanted extra support.
"[For] people who have slowed down with age, this gives them extra confidence to get active again, whether it's skiing, walking or mountain biking," Mr O'Connor said.
Two and a half years ago he and his business partner Terry Vickers teamed up with Locus Research, who researched, developed and tested the Delloch HipFit.
Now the product has been recognised abroad and has begun to take off with distributors in America and Melbourne.
Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, Waikato Hospital and Thames Hospitals are also considering it, Mr O'Connor said.
The innovative product has seen the HipFit nominated as a finalist in the non-consumer category of the New Zealand Best Product Design Awards, which was to be announced today.
"It's a pretty tough award. Even just being nominated is fantastic," Mr O'Connor said.
"We're up against Fisher & Paykel and people like that.
"It just shows you don't have to have a budget of millions and millions of dollars to get involved."
Age Concern chief executive officer Michael Tyrer said the HipFit could make a positive difference to the lives of many elderly people.
"I would need to learn more about the product, but if it helps mobility and was referred through hospitals or doctors then I think it could be a good help," he said.
"[Hip fractures] are an issue for sure and I guess "common" would be the word to use but it goes with the population and if you have a higher elderly population then the chances of it happening are higher."
For more information about the Delloch HipFit, visit the website: www.delloch.com
With Amy McGillivray