Lab named after teenager who helped improve tech for disabled

Harchie Sagoo developed acquired cerebral palsy (CP) following a family holiday in Spain

A young man who was left with acquired cerebral palsy (CP) following a family holiday, has had a new laboratory in Bristol named after him.

Harchie Sagoo, who passed away in 2024 at the age of 18, was just a few months old when he developed CP after contracting viral encephalitis in Spain.

Despite his movement and speech being affected by CP his father, Bob Sagoo, said he "understood everything" and by the age of four-and-a-half he was using eye-tracking technology to control his devices and communicate.

As a key product tester for Bristol-based Smartbox, which creates technology to help people with disabilities to communicate, the company has now named its new testing laboratory Harchie's Lab.

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Harchie's dad, who lives in Nottingham, said his son was born a healthy baby.

But following a visit to his parents in Spain, his son was left with lesions on his brain which affected his gross and fine motor movement and his speech.

"He had no cognitive disability so he understood everything," he said.

"I felt technology was going to bridge that gap for him to engage with people and also to move on in life."

At infant school, he started using Eye Gaze - which tracks a user's eye movements so they can navigate a screen.

And as he got older, he not only used an Eye Gaze tablet to communicate but also to control things around the family home like the lights, the heating and the televisions.

It also allowed him to "learn and develop and grow" and "meet friends" at both mainstream school and college.

"Harch looked at it as an extension of himself but also a lifestyle device," his father said.

"So he used it to control the environment around him including turning the shower cold - when I was in the shower."

Bob Sagoo said his son Harchie would be "absolutely psyched" to discover a testing lab was named after him

In 2014 Harchie started working with the Smartbox team, where he not only got involved in testing their latest devices but also "gave some really valuable feedback" which they built into the final design.

Before his death Harchie said being able to "express" himself, express how he was feeling and show he understands had "been very important" to him.

His father said that his son would have been "absolutely psyched" that the company's new laboratory was being named in his honour.

"When I got wind that this was what they were planning, we were just blown away," he said.

Before his death Harchie said being able to "express" himself had "been very important" to him

Smartbox's products are used by over 100,000 people around the world.

Dan Stead, from the company, said its communication aids are a "lifeline for many people" so they needed to be as reliable as possible.

"This lab was set up to help us engineer our communication aids," he said.

"They become a part of that person, they rely on it every single day."

"Without it, it's very difficult for you to build relationships, make friends, fall in love - all those amazing things."

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