Lindsay Owens, an amputee who lives in Vermont, agrees with Lingard. She says the Go FlyEase were easy to put on and take off. But ultimately due to the prosthetic she was using, the shoes didn’t work for her. “I think the shoes could be a benefit to people with disabilities, maybe just not my specific disability or not my specific prosthetic,” she says. “I will also say that the heel of the shoe is kind of clunky which could be difficult for some.” Nike has been criticised for not using the word “disabled” in its marketing of the trainers, despite the accessibility they provide. When the GO FlyEase went on sale they were made available to buy through a limited release, which made them only available to people who have signed up to be a Nike member. Louie Lingard, a 19-year-old artist and comedian who lives with a rare form of Arthrogryposis, says the shoe is a “great concept”. He’s previously worn other versions of FlyEase trainers and says Nike is his favourite manufacturer. “They are comfortable to wear but do fit snug, especially with my orthopaedic leg splints I wear, so I can see how they would maybe not be the best for some people with disabilities,” he says of the GO FlyEase. This is one of the most universal shoes ever," Nike American Paralympic triathlete Sarah Reinersten said as the GO FlyEase were unveiled earlier this year. It could be used by anyone, she said: people living with disabilities, women who are pregnant and the “lazy husband who wants to walk the dog”. As a result, there was a lot of hype about the potential of the new shoe and the accessibility it could offer. For now, the GO FlyEase are unavailable from Nike. The company did not respond to a request for comment about the launch and the controversial rollout of the trainers, but it has said it will be putting more of them on sale later this year. It hasn’t given a date or said how many pairs it will make available.

Nike FlyEase Shoes. Nike UK Nike FlyEase Shoes. Nike UK

A reviewer gave their pair to Lingard following a viral TikTok where he said Nike should have done more to make the shoes available for people with disabilities. Meanwhile, Owens says she got a Nike membership through the company’s app and set up notifications so she could get them as soon as they went on sale. “I don’t know how Nike could have made sure to roll out to people with disabilities but if they had found a way, I can say the disability community would have been ecstatic and felt heard and special,” Owens says.