A TEEN from Twyford has spent the last three weeks making hundreds of protective masks for the NHS.
Oliver Hitchings, age 15, has been using the 3D printers at his house to make protective equipment for local key workers.
He is a student at the specialist engineering and computing school UTC Reading, and he has used the skills he learns in class to make more than 150 masks.
He said: “I got the inspiration from reading about people in Italy using their printers to make similar equipment in the midst of their outbreak- I thought it was a great idea and decided to do the same”.
Mr Hitchings uses PVC to create the front shield and elastic to secure the masks, using the help of his mum when needed.
He added: “It’s difficult to get the printers running, but once you’re in the rhythm it’s not hard anymore, but it is time-consuming to deal with all the fiddly bits”.
He started making the masks on his own, but now shoulders the demand with two other Twyford residents – Oliver Beadsall and David Dawkins – he estimates that they have created more than 200 between them.
Mr Hitchings said he has managed to supply all the local GPs, pharmacists, hospices, care homes and chemists with masks, and is now shipping them as far as Birmingham.
His school donated around £150 to him in the beginning, which allowed him to buy the materials to make the first 100 masks.
Now he is relying on the public’s generosity to manage, as each mask costs around £1.50 to make, as the plastic is not cheap – he aims to raise upwards of £1,000 to make as many as possible.
To donate to the efforts, visit: http://gf.me/u/xxghj4.
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