Tiny puppy Tumbles was born premature and with no front legs, but now he’s finding his feet again thanks to Ohio University.
Tumbles weighed just 1.5 pounds when he was born and struggled to move.
“He was getting pushed out by the others. We thought he wouldn’t make it,” foster mum Karen Pilcher told ABC.
But help came when Ohio University Innovation Center kindly agreed to 3D-print a custom wheelchair to give the 6-week-old puppy a new lease of life.
Here he is getting strapped into his wheelchair for the first time.
It took Ohio University just 14 hours to print Tumbles’ wheelchair and the Center has pledged to provide Tumbles with wheels for life.
Joe Jollic, from the Innovation Center, said, “Our main goal [was] to get him off the ground. The second thing is to get him used to it.”
But right now, Tumbles just needs to get used to his first set.
Karen has complete faith in Tumbles: “His spirit is incredible,” she said, “he’s perfectly happy and he loves to play.”
“He gets around really good. He’s now starting to hop — he does that when he’s excited.”
You can watch Tumbles mastering his wheels in the video below:
When Tumbles is a bit bigger and stronger he’ll be up for adoption. We’re sure this lucky pup will be scooting around his forever home in no time at all!