Hi, and welcome to my page on the Standing With Hope website. I'm Grayson Rosenberger and you may have heard about the Bubble Wrap covering I made for artificial legs (Watch NBC’s TODAY Show feature by clicking [HERE]). I saw a need for the amputees that my parents treat in Ghana, West Africa and I used Bubble Wrap to help.

When I entered the first ever Bubble Wrap competition for Young Inventors in the fall of 2006 ....I never dreamed of where it would take me. I honestly didn't think I would even get into the finals, much less win ... but the judges felt like my invention represented the heart of Sealed Air Corporation www.sealedair.com (the company that makes Bubble Wrap). They flew me to New York, and in January of 2007 (on my birthday), I was awarded the grand-prize. Going to awards dinner in New York ... was a great trip and a lot of fun. I was able to tour the factory and see how Bubble Wrap is made ... it is really cool. If you're a student, I hope you will think about entering this year's contest. All you have to do is click HERE.

After winning the grand-prize, a lot of things happened very fast. The Associated Press ran a story on me that went world-wide, BBC Radio called from London, ... USA Today, People Magazine, and the interviews are still coming. Six months later, I went to Ghana, West Africa with my father to provide these coverings to new amputees each week. Sealed Air Corporation sent over ROLLS of Bubble Wrap that, when stacked on top of each other were taller than ME! So the workers in Ghana have enough Bubble Wrap to last for a while.

After coming home from Africa, I started football practice at my high school, Franklin Road Academy and continued speaking at events such as the American Orthotics and Prosthetic Association's annual convention in Las Vegas. In September 2007, I went to Detroit to receive the first ever da Vinci Apprentice award given to individuals who create adaptive equipment for the disabled. I returned to Africa in June 2008 with my whole family, and it was really great to have my mother and brother, Parker, with me. The US State Department put my story in a magazine that is translated into six languages, and I just found out that I will be featured in a text book in 2010. On October 25, 2008, my father and I went to Akron, Ohio, where I was inducted into the National Museum of Education's Young Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. It’s still hard to believe that all of this happened as a result of a school contest.

I have to admit, designing these coverings in a prosthetic lab, well, I was kind of worried that the people we treat in Africa wouldn't like them. But after going twice, I am relieved and really grateful that every patient wanted a Bubble Wrap covering!

I hope that, as you read this, you will be excited to see that it does not require much to be able to make a positive difference in the life of another person ... I used something as simple as Bubble Wrap. Most coverings for cosmetic legs costs hundreds of dollars in the US. My mother's legs cost nearly $1000 for each leg! With Bubblewrap, packing tape, and a prosthetic hose, I made an effective and easy way to replace covering for the amputees my parents treat ....for about $15!

We'd love for you to get involved with what my family is doing through Standing With Hope. If you want to join us, simply click here!

Grayson

Media

See Grayson's blog for his most recent trip to Ghana as published by Weekly Reader:
click Here... for Week 1
click Here ... for Week 2

To view the Today Show segment on Grayson click Here...
To view the Channel One video report on Grayson, click here...

Press Releases

Sealed Air Finalists
Sealed Air Young Inventor of 2007 Announced
15 Year-old Inventor to Address AOPA Assembly
da Vinci Award Winner® Invents Artificial Leg Shell

Articles and Links

Sealed Air Contest Winner Announcement
Steve Spangler Science Blog
Nashville City Paper Interview with Grayson
Meet Three Teen Inventors
People Magazine, March 2007