Beloved toy company founder who helped millions of kids learn to read dies by assisted suicide, leaving legacy of literacy; who is he and why did he take this step?
Mike Wood
, founder of
LeapFrog Enterprises
, the firm that revolutionized how children learn to read, has died by physician
assisted suicide
at the age of 72, as per a report. Wood died on April 10 in
Dignitas
, a nonprofit assisted dying center in Zurich, Switzerland, in the presence of family members, The New York Times reported.
Why Mike Wood Chose Physician-Assisted Suicide
His brother, Tim shared that Wood was suffering from
Alzheimer's
and so he had decided to end his life before the disease could progress too far, according to the report.
Switzerland permits assisted dying, but only if the person who's making the request is of sound mind and not driven by selfish reasons, like for money, according to Daily Mail. Clinics like Dignitas, the country's most famous clinic where hundreds of people have died in the past 20 years, has strict rules that its clients must be terminally ill, suffering extreme pain or living with an 'unendurable disability', reported Daily Mail.
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LeapFrog's Success and Growth
A pioneer of children's learning, Wood's innovation has reached millions of homes, infinite classrooms, and a whole generation of readers. His foray into this industry wasn't an intentional career choice, but it was his experience as a dad, worrying for his young son, that led him to create this global toy company, as per Daily Mail.
When Wood noticed that his then three-year-old son, Mat, knew the alphabet but could not pronounce the letter sounds, he was concerned that if his child lagged as a reader, he would forever struggle, as per the report. His concern about his son's learning, led him to make a prototype of an electronic toy that played sounds when children squeezed plastic letters and then he developed the
Phonics Desk
in 1995, according to Daily Mail.
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LeapFrog's success attracted investors such as Michael Milken and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, as per the report. In 1997, their education firm, Knowledge Universe, acquired a majority stake in LeapFrog for millions of dollars, investing in product development, reported Daily Mail. With this capital, Wood bought a company that assisted in developing the LeapPad, which he demanded be no more than $49 for Toys R Us customers, according to the report.
Wood's Continued Impact On Children
Even though the company was very successful, Wood had decided to step down from his position in the toy company in 2004 at the age of 51, as per Daily Mail. Wood then, founded and sold another reading education company,
Smarty Ants
, an online learning program, as per the report. Recently, he had volunteered as a reading teacher at a school near his home, where more than half of the students are classified by the state of California as socioeconomically disadvantaged, reported Daily Mail.
FAQs
Where did Mike Wood die?
Wood died at Dignitas, a nonprofit assisted dying clinic in Zurich, Switzerland, as per a report.
Why did Mike Wood choose to end his life?
Wood chose to end his life before his Alzheimer's progressed further.
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