Chester Evitt served in the Navy during the Gulf War and was shot in the arm, losing most of the use of his left side. A second injury three years ago made archery impossible. Through Project S.E.R.V.E., a program that connects injured veterans and first responders with student engineers, his VA doctor introduced him to four Trine University students: Ava Dobbins, Cooper Clark, Andrea Mendoza and Jake Welker.
The team worked with Evitt over video calls for months, since he lives in Montana, then met him in person in Angola, Indiana, where he tested their 3D-printed device. It mounts on his back and holds the bow steady in place of his left arm. His reaction, in his own words: “Life-changing. They’re giving me back something that was took from me.” He added that, as a father of four, he’d be proud to call any of the students his own.
Eight weeks of final adjustments remain before a formal presentation at Trine, after which Evitt plans to fly back and take the device home. Stories like this land a little differently here on the Suncoast, where so many neighbors are veterans and where our own students are learning the same skills. Do you know a young person who’d jump at a project like this?
