Wetumpka High robotics team put their big brains to use to make a 2-year-old girl's day

WETUMPKA — It's pink, it rocks, it has tunes and the wheels light up. Just the thing for a 2-year-old Wetumpka girl.

Stella Kirkpatrick was born about a month early due to placental abruption, a condition where the placenta detaches from the womb before delivery. The baby is deprived of oxygen and nutrients. 

She was without oxygen for 17 minutes and had a developed hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. She was also diagnosed with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Because of her physical conditions she has mobility issues.

Enter the Wetumpka High School robotics team. Five students — Avery Pyles, Michael Fulmer, Alan Estrada, Rena Ward and Pierce Robinson — decided to modify a battery operated car for Stella, to give her the chance to play. The ride was delivered Monday afternoon.

"This is really awesome," said Sarah Kirkpatrick, Stella's mom. "It's therapeutic for her because it helps in her development. But it's going to be fun for the entire family. She doesn't get a whole lot of opportunities to play. 

"She likes to play, but most toys aren't built for her."

Stella, who turns 3 in December, is Sarah and Russell Kirkpatrick's only child. 

The pink Jeep took about 30 hours, spaced over two academic years, to modify. Work started last fall, then schools closed due to the pandemic. The team worked about an hour after school for a month to get the work done.

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"When we got the car it didn't work, so we had to check the wiring," Avery, a senior, said. "When we got it working we had to change the wiring so the modifications would work."

The servos and switches were ordered, and the team came up with a design to meet the unique demands she faces. Stella was measured so that the brace that helps give her support would fit in the car. Two large buttons, one red and one yellow, on the steering wheel control movement and whether the car goes forward or in reverse. A PVC pipe frame acts as a support behind the seat.

And it's all able to be modified several more times for Stella as she grows and develops. A safety feature is parental override, so Sarah and Russell can control the car from various devices.

Russell spent a few minutes Monday getting the hang of the controller as Stella rode in the car up and down the sidewalk beside D Hall, where the science classes are held. Before long Stella was pushing the big red button herself, making the car go forward.

"We are so appreciative," Sarah said. "When they came to us, we really didn't know what to expect. But they blew it out of the water."

It was hard to decide who was having more fun, Stella, the students, Sarah and Russell or Virginia Vilardi, the science chair at the high school. She's the director of the robotics team. She is proud of her students.

"We want them to make a difference," she said. "When you teach them when they are young about community service, it becomes second nature to them."

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.