Terre Haute South student Bryce Norris and design technology teacher Daniel Card display the prosthetic leg that includes the foot created by Norris with a 3-D printer attached to it on Thursday at the school. Staff photo by Joseph C. Garza
Terre Haute South Vigo High School senior Bryce Norris and teacher Daniel Card are in Merida, Mexico this weekend as part of a project to provide prosthetic legs to amputees who otherwise could not afford them.
Card and Norris have used 3-D printing to make the foot for the prosthetic, part of a team effort involving several high schools from around the country that make other parts of the artificial leg.
While in Mexico, Card and Norris will assemble the prosthetic legs and fit them for 10 to 12 people who can benefit.
They are participating as part of a Thompson Thrift philanthropic effort called TT Serve, which has projects in Central America that focus on building churches and hope centers in under-resourced communities and providing prosthetic legs to those who need them.
Card and Norris will be part of a TT Serve contingent of 14 people, including Thompson Thrift employees, who go to Mexico this weekend to work on various projects.
“I think it’s a great experience,” said Norris, who has never been to another country. “It’s really cool to be able to help people in need and have the opportunity to do it.”
The VCSC duo is partnering with a program based in Alabama called SKY, or Skilled Knowledgeable Youth, founded by teacher Brian Copes at Chickasaw High School in Alabama.
One of the SKY projects is “Life Changer Manufacturing,” in which partnering high schools across the country use modern additive manufacturing techniques to 3-D print the prosthetic legs in the classroom. Different schools make different components.
South Vigo is the only Indiana high school participating in the SKY prosthetics program.
At South Vigo, “What we have done in the classroom to help is print and send a dozen feet and 20 pieces combined — feet, ankles, upper knees and lower knees,” said Card, a design technology teacher. The focus at South Vigo has been the foot component.
Making one prosthetic foot takes 54 hours, Card said.
The foot is made of materials that include carbon-based filament and Kevlar, a high strength fiber, Card said. The materials provide both strength and flexibility.
The South Vigo 3-D printer used is more advanced than what some of the other schools have and can make other prosthetic components.
Norris and Card have collaborated on the project, although Norris has done much of the work.
Card, a South Vigo graduate, studied design technology when he was in high school, and now, he is a design technology teacher. Norris has been one of his students for the past four years.
Norris hopes to make a positive impact on the lives of the amputees who benefit and is looking forward to seeing “all the happy faces.”
Card said it also will be his first time to travel out of the country and to be involved in such a project. “Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be making prosthetic limbs in a classroom. When Lori (Danielson) brought this to me, I couldn’t say no to her,” he said.
Danielson, who previously has been involved in the Thompson Thrift service program, is among those traveling to Mexico this weekend.
“The feeling is amazing,” Card said, knowing he’ll be helping those who need artificial limbs.
For the past three years, TT Serve (Thompson Thrift) has partnered with SKY in its Central America service projects.
In 2024, TT Serve led six vision trips, completed 12 church construction projects across Central America, and — in collaboration with SKY — fitted 26 prosthetic legs for amputees.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Terre Haute South Vigo High School and the SKY program on this inspiring initiative,” said Keith Carlson, director of philanthropy at Thompson Thrift. “This marks the first opportunity to take prosthetic legs to Mérida, Mexico with Terre Haute South, and we couldn’t be more grateful. It’s a powerful example of what can happen when skilled, passionate young people come together with a heart to serve.”
What makes it especially meaningful, Carlson said, “is that this partnership involves a high school in the very city where Thompson Thrift was founded — bringing the story full circle in the most impactful way. This initiative is sure to leave a lasting impression not only on the prosthetic recipients in Mexico, but on everyone involved in bringing it to life.”
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