Birr native to feature in new RTE series
A lecturer from Birr who has over 50 patents to his name will feature in a novel new RTE series which begins tonight (Wednesday) called “Big Life Fix.”
Trevor Vaugh, who is a lecturer in Maynooth University and heads up their Innovation Lab, has already developed a number of world-first surgical devices, and on the new RTE series he discusses one of his latest inventions, the Dino Kart. The Kart was made for seven-year old James Smyth who had both of his legs amputated as a result of Caudal Regression Syndrome, a rare condition affecting the spine.
Here's a teaser for the new series.
In an interview on Morning Ireland earlier today, Trevor discussed the thought process he used to create the Dino Kart once he was paired with the young Donegal boy for the new RTE series.
“We didn’t want to give James something that would stigmatise him like another type of wheelchair. I guess we wanted to really empower him and bring out that little boy.”
“When you see his garden, it goes for hundreds of metres and it struck me that a seven-year-old boy (who was six at the time) should be able to run. While he could make it to the bottom of the garden, he would always have to call for help to bring him up. Apparently there are lots of thorns on the way so he hated that. Those were our biggest challenges of how do we get him out into that garden so he can explore?
“The whole process took about a year. We spent a huge amount of time watching how he interacts with the world. He uses his hands an awful lot. He tried motorised cars and nothing seemed to work. An awful lot of observation was involved, talking to him, his family, his physiotherapist and then we started exploring ideas. Our constraint was, it couldn’t look like a disability toy. It had to be cool, it had to be dinosaurs (James is infatuated with dinosaurs) and it had to be something that other kids would want. Even my own kids, when they saw the final design they were jealous. They didn’t want to give it away.”
The Dino Kart looks like a dinosaur, which James Smyth is “obsessed with” according to Trevor Vaugh. He says it also has “a very powerful motor, a big comfy seat and a seatbelt, which makes James feel secure.”
Viewers can see the fruits of the wonderful collaboration between Trevor Vaugh and little James Smyth, and also a number of other heartwarming stories when the first episode of “Big Life Fix” airs on RTE I televison tonight at 9.35pm.