A Texas man bought a 3D printer to make toy dragons. Now he prints free wheelchairs for toddlers.
Luke Saintignan of Longview, Texas, uses two home 3D printers to build free mobility chairs for little kids. Volunteers like him have built 1,400 of them in 49 countries, and more than 1,000 families are waiting for one. Here’s how you can help, with or without a printer.
🤯 WOW! A guy in Longview, Texas, bought a 3D printer from a coworker to make toy dragons. Now he prints wheelchairs for toddlers, and families pay zero. Volunteers like him have built 1,400 of these chairs for kids in 49 countries. More than 1,000 families are waiting for theirs.
The Short Version: Volunteers with home 3D printers are building free mobility chairs for little kids, and you can help with a printer, a donation or a share. Learn how below.
📖 Read time: 2 minutes
3D Mobility
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Luke Saintignan got a 3D printer the way a lot of us pick up a hobby. A friend at work sold him one. (Seriously, that’s how it starts.)
He printed dragons. Jets. Chess pieces. Then in June, he found a design that changed what his printer was for.
It’s called the Toddler Mobility Trainer, or TMT. Think of it as a wheelchair and a stroller rolled into one, built for little kids with mobility challenges. Luke’s two printers in Longview, Texas, take a couple of weeks to make one. The kids’ families pay nothing.
His first chair went to a girl named Lucy.
“It really hit me when delivering the first chair and seeing that family and how grateful little Miss Lucy was,” Luke said.
I had Luke on my show, and that story got me. So I donated $1,000 to help build more chairs.
🛞 A garage full of good
The design comes from MakeGood, a disability design nonprofit in New Orleans. The plans are free, so anyone with a home 3D printer can build one. Here’s how it works:
- Families request a chair at 3d-mobility.org, ideally with a doctor’s OK.
- Volunteer makers print a few test parts to get approved, then claim a child’s build.
- Each chair costs makers $175 to $500 in materials. Donations help cover filament, hardware and shipping.
- The chair fits kids ages 1 to 8, and families never get a bill.
So far, volunteers have built 1,400 of these chairs for kids in 49 countries. More than 1,000 families are still waiting.
Store-bought mobility devices for kids cost more than many families can swing, and insurance denials are common. For a toddler, a few months is forever. Getting around on your own is how little ones explore, learn and keep up with their friends.
💛 How you can roll with it
You don’t need to be an engineer. Pick your lane:
- Own a 3D printer? Sign up as a maker at 3d-mobility.org/makers.
- Want to fund a build? Donate at 3d-mobility.org/donate. Your money buys the parts for a child’s chair.
- Know a family who needs one? Send them to 3d-mobility.org/request-device.
- No printer? Many public libraries and makerspaces have one you can use.
Luke started with dragons. Now he builds something a lot bigger: a kid’s first taste of getting somewhere on her own.
🗣️ Text/post this stat: Volunteers with home 3D printers have built 1,400 free wheelchairs for toddlers in 49 countries, and more than 1,000 families are still waiting. Help at 3d-mobility.org. GetKim.com
📩 Send this to someone who has a 3D printer collecting dust in the garage.
