Interview with Grayson Rosenberger

Grayson

Q: First off - can we have a little background information on you Grayson -
Where you live? How old you are? (if you don’t mind answering)

I am seventeen years old and live in Nashville, TN. I’m the president of my
sophomore class at Franklin Road Academy.

Q: Have you always been interested in inventing/making things?

Yes. I’ve always
played with Legos, built toys out of wood, and made crazy things. I’ve entered
contests before, but never won anything.

Q: What was your inspiration to make prosthetic leg coverings out of bubble
wrap?

One of the patients my parents treated in Africa through their prosthetic
ministry, Standing With Hope, was a boy named Daniel. Daniel broke his leg
while playing soccer, and the doctors in Ghana amputated it. Mom and Dad helped
get him a new leg, but it looked robotic, and Daniel’s classmates made fun of
the way his leg looked. Standing With Hope couldn’t afford to provide coverings
for the legs they provided (my mother’s covering on her legs cost one thousand
dollars a piece). The need was their, and this was a frequent discussion at our
dinner table …and in assembly one day, a former science teacher announced the
contest for students to come up with a new use for Bubble Wrap. I talked it
over with my parents, and we got one of my mother’s old legs out of closet, and
tried it out. For the contest, I had to have a mentor, so I asked my mother’s
prosthetist to be my mentor. I went to his shop and he gave me the tools, work
space, and a finished leg to serve as a model.

Q: Whats the creation process? (How you made them, what were all the materials
you used, etc.)

The process is simple. Wrap the large BubbleWrap (with the Bubbles facing
inward) around the pylon of the endo-skeletal limb. Using packing tape, you
secure it in place, and then mold the Bubblewrap with a heat gun that melts the
plastic. (Wear heat resistant gloves). Layer smaller bubblewrap around the
shape and sculpt it by hand to simulate a calf, ankle, shin, etc…
Pull a flesh colored hose over the limb …and it’s done.
My first one took about 1 hour. Now, I can make them in twenty mintues.

Q: Who receives the legs that you make?

All the below knee patients treated by Standing With Hope (and some above-knee.)
Since the car accident, I’ve learned that patients in the US are asking their
prosthetists to make a Bubblewrap covering for them, too. The first leg (and
initial leg) for amputees in the US usually don’t have a covering made for them.
(The first legs usually require adjustments, and you have to tear apart a
covering.)

Q: What did you do with the $10,000 prize money? (if you don’t mind answering)

I bought a car.

Q: What advice would you give to a young person who wants to invent things but
doesn’t know where to get started?

Don’t try to invent something first. Look for a need. More importantly, look
to see how you can help make a difference in someone else’s life.

Q: With all of the media and press coverage, how do you keep your pride in
check?

I’ve been in People magazine and on the Today Show. Since winning the contest
two years ago, I’ve been interviewed nearly one-hundred times. I’ve also met
the President of the United States …but as cool as all that is, I’ve also had
the opportunity to meet people with Leprosy who have had parts of their bodies
rot off. I’ve built leg covering for kids who were carried into our clinic by
their parents.

The people we treat at Standing With Hope don’t care how much media attention I
get …they just want to walk and feel like a whole person again. It kind of puts
the whole ego thing in perspective.

Q: Where do you feel God leading you next?

I feel like God is leading me to serve our country, and I hope to attend the US
Military Academy at West Point.