Revolutionary Innovation: Scientists Create Hand-Crafted Wheel Enabling Turtle Mobility Despite Loss of Both Legs

The following story not only speaks about the love of animals and the possibility of offering them a better life despite adversity but also about the ingenuity of some people who use their knowledge to save lives.

Just like Pedro’s story, there’s the tale of a disabled tortoise that was missing both hind legs but fortunately managed to regain mobility thanks to being provided with two wheels made of LEGO pieces. Pedro was able to move again, all thanks to the brilliant idea of the students.

When Pedro was adopted, he was already missing one of his hind legs. However, he disappeared for a few months, and when they found him again, he had lost the other one and was crawling with his poor shell.

Desperate and distraught, his owner, Sandra Taylor, took him to the Louisiana State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where they finally found a solution to his problem.

As? In this case, it was not the professionals who found salvation for Pedro, but rather two veterinary students, named Rockwell and Sarah Mercer, who had the original idea of helping Pedro by applying two wheels from a Lego car kit to the place where his legs would go. In this way, they restored mobility.

Pedro was in good hands and had support all the time.

The team of veterinarians headed by Dr. Mark Mitchell treated Pedro with remarkable commitment and professionalism. For this reason, they developed a plan to create a prosthesis that would adapt to his body, and the best option they found was to make a wheelchair out of Lego pieces. Thanks to this intervention, Pedro the turtle was saved.

“We have the entire medical service of the hospital and all the students helping. We had to make the shafts long enough to fit his body. We also did it so they could go out and clean Pedro. We had to try a couple of things to make it fit,” said Rockwell, the veterinarian in charge of the situation.

This is how the wheels got stuck to the back of the turtle.

To glue the Lego wheels to Pedro’s body, the professionals used the same glue used to attach horseshoes to horses, called epoxy. They also used the needles from a syringe to hold the axles together and then cut some pieces to fit. It was a delicate and almost artisan work, which can only be achieved with love, knowledge, and dedication.