13-Year-Old Spends 300 Hours Building a Custom Mobility Chair for a Little Girl He Had Never Met

For many teenagers, summer is a season measured in free time. There are vacations, video games, swimming pools, sports, friends, and long afternoons with nothing on the schedule. For 13-year-old Zac Waters of Utah, however, the summer of 2026 became something very different.

Instead of spending his days simply enjoying a break from school, Zac devoted roughly 300 hours to a project that required patience, technical skill, repeated testing, and a remarkable amount of persistence: building a custom 3D-printed mobility chair for a 21-month-old girl he had never met.

What began with Zac's fascination with 3D printing eventually became an opportunity to use technology for something much more meaningful than a hobby project.

The teenager's story was reported by ABC4 Utah and subsequently covered by outlets including People. According to those reports, Zac discovered MakeGood, a nonprofit organization that develops open-source assistive technology, and decided to become one of its volunteer makers. People.com

The result was a colorful, customized Toddler Mobility Trainer, designed to give a young child greater opportunities to move, explore, and participate in everyday life.

The story is inspiring not because Zac was asked to do it, or because he was promised a prize. It is inspiring because he saw a practical problem, recognized that he had a skill that might help, and decided to spend a significant portion of his summer doing something about it.

A Hobby That Became Something More

Zac's interest in 3D printing began in a way that will sound familiar to many young people today: through videos on YouTube.

3D printing can initially look like a fascinating technical hobby. A digital design is transformed into a physical object layer by layer, allowing makers to create everything from toys and household objects to highly specialized components.

For Zac, the technology quickly became more than an entertaining experiment.

He had already developed an interest in designing and producing things with a 3D printer. But after discovering MakeGood, he realized that the same technology could potentially be used to address a real human need.

That realization changed the direction of his summer.

Instead of asking what interesting object he could print next, Zac found himself asking a much more meaningful question: What could he make that someone else actually needed?

That question eventually led him to a young child who needed mobility support.

According to People, Zac said the project combined two of his favorite things: 3D printing and helping people in need. People.com

The simplicity of that explanation is part of what makes the story so memorable.

There was no complicated personal connection between Zac and the child. He was not building the device for a sibling or a close friend. He did not already know the family.

He simply learned that there was a child who needed a mobility device and realized that his developing technical skills could potentially be useful.

So he volunteered.

The Child He Had Never Met

The recipient of Zac's project was a 21-month-old girl who needed a mobility chair.

At that age, children are normally beginning to explore their surroundings with increasing independence. They crawl, stand, walk, reach for objects, follow family members around the house, and discover their environment through movement.

For children with mobility challenges, however, ordinary exploration can be much more difficult.

A mobility device can change that experience by helping a child interact with the environment instead of remaining dependent on being carried or pushed.

This is not simply a matter of convenience.

The World Health Organization describes assistive technology as products and related services that can help people maintain or improve functioning and independence. Mobility products include wheelchairs and other devices designed to support movement. World Health Organization

UNICEF similarly emphasizes that assistive technology can help children with disabilities participate in education, family life, play, and their communities. UNICEF Global

That broader context helps explain why a project like Zac's matters.

To an outsider, the finished object might look like a colorful piece of equipment.

To a toddler and her family, it can represent something much bigger: the opportunity to move, explore, interact, and participate more independently.

The Technology Behind the Project

The device Zac built was not simply a conventional wheelchair with a few colorful parts added.

It was based on MakeGood's Toddler Mobility Trainer, or TMT, a 3D-printable mobility device specifically designed for young children.

MakeGood describes the TMT as an open-source mobility device intended to support young children as they develop mobility, independence, and confidence. The organization says it is designed for children approximately ages 1 through 8 who may have developmental delays, physical disabilities, or other mobility challenges. MakeGood Store

MakeGood's broader mission is to use 3D printing to make assistive devices more accessible.

Its official website explains that the nonprofit develops free designs for custom assistive technology, including mobility-related accessories and the 3D Toddler Mobility Trainer. MakeGood INC

The idea is important because traditional pediatric mobility equipment can be expensive, difficult to obtain, and sometimes difficult to customize as children grow.

A toddler is not a miniature adult.

Children change rapidly. Their height, weight, proportions, strength, and abilities can change substantially over relatively short periods.

That means mobility equipment designed for young children must account for growth and changing needs.

The TMT was developed with that challenge in mind.

MakeGood says the device includes customizable components and is designed to provide young children with supported mobility while allowing them to interact with their environment. 3D Mobility

Three Hundred Hours of Work

Building something like this was not a weekend project.

Zac spent approximately 300 hours working on it over the summer, according to reports from ABC4 and People. People.com

Three hundred hours is difficult to comprehend until it is converted into something more familiar.

It is more than twelve continuous days and nights.

For a teenager working around school, family activities, meals, sleep, and everyday responsibilities, it represents a substantial commitment.

And the hours were not all spent simply watching a printer operate.

Zac worked through the process of designing, printing, testing, and assembling the device. People.com

Each stage required attention.