Toronto, Ontario — Ray Lavoie, manager at GM Forbes Collision in Waterloo, Ont., says his 18-year-old son has been hard at work crafting much-need medical equipment for Canada’s front line workers.
Nathan Lavoie, an 18-year-old Royal Canadian Air Cadet, should be enjoying his last few weeks of high school. Instead, the teen is sat in front of his 3D printer crafting ear guards for Canada’s front line medical workers.
By securing mask straps to the ear guards, which wrap around the back of the head, medical workers are able to relieve ear strain caused by wearing masks for upwards of 12 hours daily.
“We’ve sent them to Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, Hamilton, North York,” Ray told Collision Repair. “He’s really quite humble about it.”
According to Ray, Nathan has crafted more than 2,000 guards, which have been shipped to workers across Canada, and used more than 3.2 kilometres (2 miles) of plastic material.
Nathan, who had purchased a 3D printer before the outbreak, wanted to serve as an example for his fellow Air Cadets.
“He just wanted to show them that you can be doing more than just sitting inside playing video games,” said Ray. “You can do something to help—there are lots of options out there.”
