Shannon Ryan was scrolling on Facebook when she noticed a request inside a non-public group for volunteers and fosters of the rescue Pitties Love Peace. The rescue group was trying to find somebody to foster a 6-week-old pup named Jimmy. Shannon immediately mentioned sure.
It didn’t matter that he couldn’t transfer his again legs and that no one knew why. She didn’t care that he needed to put on diapers. One take a look at his tiny, lovable face, and she or he was offered.
Jimmy first got here to Pitties Love Peace when he was solely six weeks outdated and he was surrendered by his breeder. Pitties Love Peace is a non-profit group that’s devoted to the rescue and rehabilitation of Pit Bulls.
Originally, they have been not sure why his again legs wouldn’t work, however after a number of orthopedic and neurology consults and a number of other MRI’s, consultants concluded that Jimmy will stay completely paralyzed. His beginning defects, which go away him with little feeling in his legs and toes, make it not possible for him to stroll on his hind legs. His backbone has a extreme curvature and is twisted like a corkscrew.
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There’s no spinal surgical procedure that may assist Jimmy, so he’ll probably all the time stay a particular wants canine who wears diapers and makes use of a wheelchair. So everybody started brainstorming what they may do to assist his mobility. It was then that a volunteer got here throughout a name for proposals for Elizabethtown College’s Community Based Projects’ engineering course. The undertaking pairs college students with non-profit organizations.
“I think the students found it really fun and were motivated in a way by this project that wouldn’t normally be with their coursework. I think it was very rewarding for them to be able to use their skill sets and then see it make a difference,” says Brenda Daily, an affiliate professor of engineering at Elizabethtown College.
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When the faculty college students noticed Jimmy’s candy face, they too fell immediately in love and instantly accepted his proposal for a wheelchair. So a bunch of 5 Elizabethtown College engineering college students got down to design a customized cart for Jimmy so he might lastly really feel the liberty of extra mobility. It took many months and a number of conferences, however they have been lastly capable of determine it out.
To accommodate him as he grows, the staff used telescoping pipes which might be adjustable to a variety of sizes. They additionally made certain that his again legs wouldn’t be dragging on the bottom by becoming a cloth loop to the best facet of the cart that permits them to relaxation comfortably and simply slide out and in.
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“This was the most exciting project I’ve ever done and the most fulfilling by far. I remember watching Jimmy try to walk when we first met him and it was just heartbreaking, because you can tell that he wants to run and play like a regular puppy, but he can’t. That just motivated all of us even more to do the best job possible so Jimmy could be able to do that,” shared one of many college students.
Jimmy could also be completely paralyzed, however now he has a brand new set of wheels that may assist him reside his greatest life. While Jimmy could someday be out there for adoption, for now, he shall be staying along with his foster household as he learns the way to higher use his new set of wheels.
Check out the video under to see Jimmy studying the way to use his customized cart.
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