Ford SupportBelt Debuts For Mastectomy Patients

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an international health campaign designed to raise awareness for this terrible disease, as well as a way to raise much-needed funds for research and treatment. Ford has historically been a big supporter of breast cancer awareness in general, even teaming up with GoRide Health to provide transportation for patients in need of treatment. Now, those efforts continue in a very different way with the debut of the new Ford SupportBelt.

The Ford SupportBelt is the first seat belt accessory designed by a U.S. automaker with one goal in mind – to help mastectomy patients travel comfortably while they’re on the road to recovery. The idea for this innovative feature came from Lynn Simoncini, a creative director at VML – a marketing partner of Ford – after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 and subsequently underwent a double mastectomy. What Simoncini didn’t expect was the agonizing pain that occurred when she was driving with a seatbelt across her still-healing chest, which made it rather difficult to carry out even the most mundane daily tasks.

Simoncini was surprised to find that there were no solutions for this rather common problem – around 100,000 men and women undergo a mastectomy each year in the U.S. – so she came up with one of her own. Her sketches of such a device are what eventually led to the creation of the Ford SupportBelt, which was designed and developed by The Blue Oval with a soft, breathable foam that fastens to the seatbelt to help relieve pressure and reduce discomfort on a person’s chest while driving. That device is now available at no cost to mastectomy patients in the U.S., who can head over here to get one. Lear Corp. will be manufacturing the initial batch of SupportBelts, which are expected to begin shipping in November. Ford has also filed a patent for the SupportBelt and plans to open it up to other manufacturers so production can be scaled across the globe.

“I just want somebody who is using this product to be like, ‘I’m glad that there was somebody who understood what I am going through and considered this very specific small part of my recovery process in such a thoughtful and considerate way,'” Simoncini said. “I leave it strapped to the seatbelt in my car and use it every single day. I hope that women everywhere, who have experienced the same struggles I have, get the SupportBelt and find comfort in knowing that this product has been brought to them by a group of people who recognize their battle and know the SupportBelt will help.”