: 23-YO Makes Fashionable Durable Diabetic Footwear, Sells To 85 Hospitals #IndiaNEWS #Changemakers “It started off, as all good things do, at an Indian wedding…� Chennai-based Vidhan Bhaiya

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23-YO Makes Fashionable Durable Diabetic Footwear, Sells To 85 Hospitals #IndiaNEWS #Changemakers
“It started off, as all good things do, at an Indian wedding…�
Chennai-based Vidhan Bhaiya (23) was inspired to launch Dr Brinsley, a homegrown venture manufacturing diabetic footwear, after he sensed his favourite uncle’s discomfort on being photographed at a family event in 2016. The ‘style icon of the family’ had recently been diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy, and didn’t want to be pictured in his bulky shoes, Vidhan recalls.
While his uncle was his first customer, Vidhan’s brainchild has been associated with as many as 85 hospitals across the country, and impacted the lives of around a thousand diabetics, he says.
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), India has an estimated 8. 7 per cent diabetic population in the age group of 20-70 years, with around 77 million Indians diagnosed with diabetes. Besides being at risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failures, patients may also experience muscle and joint pain, as well as stiffness and loss of sensation in their limbs, and may ultimately require amputation.
“Every twenty seconds, a foot is amputated due to diabetes across the world. About half of these cases can be prevented if patients wear appropriate footwear. The concept isn’t new at all, but adherence is low because of the way most diabetic shoes look. I began my company with an idea to innovate at a component-level and combine medical utility with style,� Vidhan tells The Better India.
‘The Dr Brinsley advantage
Vidhan Bhaiya visited Civitanova Marche, a town in Italy, to study the shoe-manufacturing industry, in 2017. (Source: Vidhan Bhaiya)
“Our footwear was created keeping four fundamental design goals in mind — even distribution of plantar pressure, reducing friction and shear stress, preventing external shocks, and accommodating deformities due to diabetes,� explains Vidhan.
The shoes, which feature components such as an anti-sweat leather lining and a soft memory foam footbed, are priced between Rs 999 and Rs 3,999. About 500 pairs of Dr Brinsley shoes are replenished every 25 days or so, ordered primarily by young professionals for their middle-aged and elderly family members. Vidhan says the company works with small manufacturing vendors based in Karnataka, whose business took a hit during the pandemic.
In 2017, while pursuing an undergraduate scholarship programme in chemical engineering at Northeastern University, Boston, Vidhan applied for the Scholars Independent Research Fellowship, a university initiative to support students pursuing independent research and creative endeavours over the summer.
In need of crucial mentoring, Vidhan approached two faculty members — Dr Mark Sivac, considered an expert in prototyping, who helped him develop a product focused on the user, and Dr Marc Meyer, head of entrepreneurship at the university, who helped him conceptualise Dr Brinsley shoes as a company.

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