A 13-year-old in Lehi, Utah, spent roughly 300 hours of his summer break designing, printing, testing and assembling a custom wheelchair for a 21-month-old girl whose family could not afford commercial mobility equipment. Zac Waters built the chair from scratch after discovering an open-source design online, turning a summer project into a fully functional piece of medical equipment complete with pink accents, the toddler's favorite color.
According to KFOR, Zac was inspired by a YouTube channel focused on 3D printing and used that research to discover MakeGood, the nonprofit whose blueprints he ultimately followed. As reported by ABC4 Utah, Zac had been searching for a summer project that combined his interest in 3D printing with community service when he found the family in need. He dedicated his summer to designing, printing, testing, and assembling the wheelchair by hand.
The finished chair includes a removable cupholder, a removable tray table, and straps made of soft, bendable material for comfort. Its footrest and headrest are both adjustable, features meant to let the chair accommodate the child's growth over time. The design also leaves space in the back for heavier medical equipment, should the girl need it added later.
A Nonprofit Blueprint Behind the Build
Zac's chair traces back to MakeGood, a New Orleans-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2021 by Noam Platt that designs open-source, 3D-printed assistive devices and has delivered more than 1,600 customized devices to families free of charge, according to MakeGood Inc. Platt established the organization to address accessibility gaps that affect more than a billion people with disabilities worldwide, per the same nonprofit's materials. MakeGood released the files for its 3D-Printed Toddler Mobility Trainer in late 2025, designing the device for children ages 1 to 8 to be printed on standard consumer 3D printers using roughly 8 to 10 spools of PETG and 2 to 3 spools of TPU, according to the Bambu Lab Blog, bringing total material costs to about $150 to $200.
The trainer requires minimal hardware beyond filament, just six bolts, two nuts, two washers and three casters, per the same blog post. Its modular assembly needs no glue or tools, which means caregivers and makers can reprint individual broken or outgrown parts rather than replace the whole chair, according to 3DPrinting.com. That modularity also allows for customization, such as mounts for heavier medical equipment or personalized color accents like the pink trim Zac added for the toddler he built for.
Why Families Turn to DIY Mobility Devices
Commercial pediatric wheelchairs routinely cost thousands of dollars, and insurance approval requires physician prescriptions, physical therapy evaluations and prior authorizations that can delay delivery by months or more than a year, according to the Maryam Parman Foundation for Children. Traditional custom power wheelchairs for young children can run up to $20,000 out-of-pocket when insurance does not cover them, compared with roughly $150 to $300 for 3D-printed chairs or modified ride-on trainers, per a comparison from Science Pulse.
Compounding the problem, private health insurance and Medicaid policies typically restrict wheelchair replacements to once every five years, even though toddlers frequently outgrow custom mobility equipment within two to three years, according to Undivided. Families facing that mismatch often must file lengthy appeals or seek alternative funding just to keep a growing child properly supported. Independent mobility in toddlers between 6 months and 3 years old is considered critical for cognitive, motor, language and social development, while passive mobility, being pushed or carried, can contribute to developmental delays, per more than 30 years of research cited by Sunrise Medical Education.
Part of a Broader Maker Movement
Zac's build fits into a wider, grassroots trend. Throughout 2026, local volunteers, Girl Scout troops and foster parents around the country have adopted MakeGood's open-source blueprints to print mobility chairs for children whose families could not secure insurance coverage, according to WKYC. That coverage points to efforts like Stormi's Mobility Project in Ohio and cookie-funded Girl Scout builds in Massachusetts as examples of the movement's reach.
The concept of do-it-yourself pediatric mobility predates 3D printing by nearly two decades. Open-source adaptive mobility traces back to 2006, when University of Delaware professor Cole Galloway established the GoBabyGo program to adapt off-the-shelf motorized toy cars for young children who did not qualify for electric wheelchairs, according to the Kiwi Kids Charity. It is the kind of community-driven groundwork that later made projects like MakeGood's open-source files and Zac's summer build possible.
A Grandmother's Perspective
Zac's grandmother, Charlotte Waters, said his character, rather than his age, defines his ability to make a difference, per KFOR's report. Zac himself compared his family to bowling-ball training rails that keep him on the right path, and said he is thankful for their support throughout the project. He told the outlet he hopes to reach the expertise level of the MakeGood team and plans to keep developing his 3D-printing skills to help more people.
Zac said 3D printing and helping people in need are his two favorite things, and that he wants to pursue something techie when he grows up. Similar low-cost builds have popped up elsewhere recently, including a 3D-printed wheelchair for a paralyzed kitten in Cincinnati, underscoring how accessible the technology has become for makers of all ages tackling mobility gaps that institutions have been slow to fill.
