Our Story

Kia ora (hello) everyone, my name is William Pike. I’m the founder and director of Pro Armour. I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself and share the Pro Armour journey so far…

It all began back in 2007 when my mate and I climbed Mt Ruapehu, in New Zealand. That evening we slept on the mountain in a small hut and Mt. Ruapehu unexpectedly erupted. The usually peaceful Crater Lake spewed 1.5 million cubic metres of rocks, water and mud down its slopes that crashed violently into our hut. My leg’s were crushed, I was critically injured and fell unconscious as my mate ran down the mountain to save our lives.

24 hours later I woke up in Intensive Care with my right leg amputated below the knee. I faced a long and grueling rehabilitation. Eventually, I learnt to walk with a prosthetic leg, returned to work and explored the great outdoors once again.

As an amputee, one of the major challenges I faced was the collection of dirt, dust, sand and water around my prosthetic foot and components. My limb began to malfunction and I needed frequent replacements. I began to shy away from everyday environments that weren’t prosthetic friendly, like the beach, garden and bush. My mental and physical health was taking setbacks as a result. I quickly learnt that dirty prosthetics were timely, costly and really frustrating for myself, prosthetists and funders – so I decided to do something about it!

After years of trials I finally landed on something that worked perfectly! All of a sudden I had the confidence and freedom to do more. It was an absolute game changer! I saved myself a huge amount of time and hassle not having to clean debris out of my prosthetic foot.

Soon after, I wanted other amputees to experience that same level of freedom and confidence that I was experiencing. So on a rainy night, whilst Covid was causing havoc around the world, my wife and I made a bold decision to start Pro Armour (short for Prosthetic Armour) from scratch in 2020.

It’s been a wild ride so far, with the up’s and down’s you’d expect from starting a new business. Covid19 has added an extra layer of difficulty. Our customers mean the world to us and we are so honoured to help improve their lives. Hearing success stories from our customers warm our hearts and make the tough times so worth it. Of course we’re absolutely delighted to see our vision for Pro Armour come to fruition with amputees, like Naomi, Matthew and Kane who feature below.

We’re extremely grateful for our partnership with Peke Waihanga – Artificial Limb Service and their prosthetists for prescribing the Pro Armour Lite to amputees around NZ. We’re moving across the ditch to Australia and we’re loving working with Australian centres and their prosthetists too. Of course, we’re excited to see the Pro Armour Lite changing lives in prosthetic centres around the world too!

Thanks to everyone who has been part of the journey so far, we’re looking forward to the next ‘leg’.