The Year of the Poet X ~ September 2023

Foreword

Children: Difference Makers

Easton LaChappelle

Who is Easton LaChappelle? . . . He is the Founder and CEO of Unlimited Tomorrow, a company that creates ultra-personalized advanced prosthetic devices at a fraction of the cost of traditional prosthetics. LaChappelle founded the company along with Tony Robbins in 2014.

Everything started about ten years ago. Easton LaChappelle was 14 years old and he was interested in watching YouTube videos in his home in Colorado. They were on how to build robot arms from LEGOs. Play with bricks started new chapter in prosthetics. Today he has his own company which designs low-cost, 3D-printed prosthetic limbs that can be controlled by the user's mind. His business started when an accidental meeting with a disabled girl led him to the path of entrepreneurship. He was in the eighth grade at that time. LaChappelle recalls that at a science fair he met a 7-year-old girl who had an $80,000 prosthetic arm, which he described as "archaic" and offering very little help with her physical needs.

He said:

"I was shocked to learn how much it costs, especially realizing that she would soon outgrow it and it would become useless at that point," LaChappelle, now 24, told CNN.

"I couldn't believe this was the best thing available for her, and that's when I decided to find out how I can create something that provides physical utility."

A prosthetic arm, for instance, should help someone complete daily tasks, like eating with utensils or tying shoes laces, he said. Through its appearance, it could also provide "psychological utility," he added, emphasizing the importance of his device's aesthetic [...]