When Quinn Callander and his mother Heather Roney entered an online contest, they thought they had a pretty good chance at winning a camp-stove. What they didnB次元官网网址檛 expect, however, was to become an overnight sensation and start an international movement that directly improves the lives of frontline health-care workers.
Earlier this month, the Maple Ridge B次元官网网址 published an article featuring seventh-grader Callander and his effort to build hundreds of ear guards using a 3D printer - devices that allow health-care workers to tie medical masks to the back of their head, relieving pressure on their ears during 12-hour shifts.
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Roney snapped a photo of her son holding the ear guards, entered the pictures in a Scouts Canada photo contest and published them on her Facebook page.
The Facebook post almost immediately went viral, exploding to 461,000 shares, 287,000 likes and 57,000 comments in less than three weeks.
Quinn and Roney agreed that the highlight of the new-found-fame has been reading feedback from health-care workers.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e had so many messages from people that have been so thankful that theyB次元官网网址檙e able to focus on their patients, rather than the pain that theyB次元官网网址檙e experiencing. WeB次元官网网址檝e also heard from a lot of people that we havenB次元官网网址檛 really thought (about) in the world that canB次元官网网址檛 wear masks. Due to the fact that they may not have an earB次元官网网址� now they can actually wear a mask,B次元官网网址� Roney said.
ThereB次元官网网址檚 little sign of fatigue in their 15-minutes-of-fame. This Wednesday, Quinn is to be featured on an episode of Dr. Phil, which was filmed last week.
B次元官网网址淚t was great. I mean, it probably would have been more exciting before COVID-19 to fly to Los Angeles, but it was a Zoom interview. He was the feel good story of the broadcast, which featured a lot of medical professionals talking about COVID-19 and some of the research theyB次元官网网址檙e doing. Then they brought on Quinn to cheer everyone up,B次元官网网址� Roney said.
Although he remains humble and hard at work - to date, heB次元官网网址檚 printed more than 1,000 devices - Quinn was thrilled to receive a call from Scouts Canada.
B次元官网网址淲e get excited for the big stuff and (Quinn) gets excited for things like the World Organization of Scouting interviewed himB次元官网网址� For him, that was a huge deal. For us, weB次元官网网址檙e going to be on Dr. Phil on Wednesday, that was a big deal,B次元官网网址� Roney said.
Roney said she lost count of how many interviews they have done with news organizations across the world. But for Quinn, B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 all just a dayB次元官网网址檚 work.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 such a laid back kid. My husband and I share the stories with him, the videos, the comments online. He takes it with a, you know, B次元官网网址渃ool,B次元官网网址� and goes back to what he was doing.B次元官网网址�
Unfortunately, Quinn didnB次元官网网址檛 win the camp-stove. However, his efforts were paid off in the much bigger way.
B次元官网网址�(Scouts) is so happy, they offered to distribute those ear guards for us at their expense using their retail locations. So weB次元官网网址檒l be able to affordably get them across the country.B次元官网网址�
Roney said the attention has spurred companies to follow suite. She said some manufactures have repurposed their equipment to make injection molds to mass produce the product. One manufacture said they will deliver 10,000 ear guards for her to distribute in Canada.
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Even so, thereB次元官网网址檚 a bigger picture of QuinnB次元官网网址檚 story, and that, too, has a connection to Maple Ridge.
Quinn pulled the design for the ear guards off , a website where people can share and modify 3D printed plans.
Unbeknownst to him, the design that Quinn used was created and uploaded by Maple Ridge resident Ken Lord.
Call it fate or call it coincidence, Lord is also remaining humble about the experience.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been pretty amazing. I, honestly, donB次元官网网址檛 really deserve much credit. I was just kind of lucky to have a link to my version of the design included in their crazy viral Facebook post,B次元官网网址� Lord said Monday.
B次元官网网址淢y design was just a minor modification of another personB次元官网网址檚 design, a person who actually lives in Hong Kong. He freely shared his version and I just punched a hole in it to make it print a little quicker and use less material,B次元官网网址� Lord said.
Uploaded March 29, the B次元官网网址淪urgical Mask Strap RemixB次元官网网址� 3D blueprint has been downloaded nearly 80,000 times.
B次元官网网址淵ou have to figure that nearly all of the people would do at least a test print. ThereB次元官网网址檚 definitely people out there that are printing hundreds of them. Who knows what the total number could be, it could easily be a million of them. Who knows,B次元官网网址� Lord said.
Lord laughed when he shared the statistics of his other 3D design upload.
B次元官网网址淭he only other design IB次元官网网址檝e ever shared has a grand total of about 15 downloads over two years,B次元官网网址� he said.
For his part, Lord has printed about 4,000 of the ear savers. His employer, BGC Engineering, has supported him with the use of their 3D printer and offered to pay for the supplies.
