Luke Huddle-Jones, a 14-year-old Longmont resident, began 3D printing surgical mask straps three weeks ago. Since then, he has printed nearly 200 straps and donated more than 100 to Boulder Community Health.
Luke said he was inspired to make the mask straps when he heard his mother’s nurse friend was experiencing ear pain from long shifts wearing surgical masks.
“I just wanted to help out the nurses because they’re working pretty much 24 hours a day,” Luke said. “It’d be nice to give them a little bit of comfort and it feels great helping other people. Just knowing that there’s a need for these and I can help out.”
The straps allow wearers to hook the elastic bands of surgical masks to the strap behind their head, rather than on their ears.
Melanie Pray, a registered nurse with BCH, said she “jumped at the opportunity” to have one of Luke’s mask straps.
“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I never had to wear a mask for my entire shift,” Pray said. “Even touching my ears there was skin breakdown and sores.”
Pray met Luke’s mother, Dana Jones, 15 years ago as a first responder when she was giving birth to Luke’s older sister at home during a snowstorm.
Luke and his mom reached out to Pray last month asking about donating the mask straps. After giving one to Pray, they quickly donated enough for Pray’s entire unit — and then 70 more after that.
“The mask bands have been very helpful,” Pray said. “It’s quite extraordinary that this young man stepped up to do this.”
Luke creates the mask straps with a free model online. A seventh-grader, he puts the downloaded file into a “slicer” to slice the model into layers, which turns into G-code to provide coordinates for the 3D printer.
Luke said he learned the majority of his 3D printing knowledge from YouTube.
“The models were just free and out there,” he said. “There are challenges (to printing) that, during quarantine, you have all the time in the world to fix.”
A Boy Scout of six years, Luke enjoys building and working with 3D printing. He recently built his own computer out of a Raspberry Pi — a small, single-board computer — and a screen. When he’s older, he wants to work with computers.
“I’m super proud of him,” Jones said. “I think it’s great. To take this time and use it to do something good.”
Jones said they plan to expand the donations to Longmont United Hospital and UCHealth.
“We at BCH feel tremendously supported by our community,” said Richard Sheehan, BCH director of marketing and public relations. “It really means a lot to see a young man like Luke recognize the national issue with personal protective equipment and take action to support his local hospital in a thoughtful and meaningful way.”
Luke hopes to set an example for others to do what they can to help during the pandemic, especially those with access to materials like 3D printers. The family is offering to provide pickup and delivery for others who want to donate 3D-printed materials to hospitals.
To organize a pickup, contact Jones at dana@bluehalostudio.com.
