Custom Lego wheelchair helps injured turtle get around

This injured turtle is going places, thanks to his own custom Lego wheelchair.

A Maryland Zoo employee found the wild Eastern box turtle in a park, and after discovering he had a half shell, brought him to the zoo's hospital. They soon realized he had multiple fractures on his plastron, the bottom part of his shell. "Because of the unique placement of the fractures, we faced a difficult challenge with maintaining the turtle's mobility while allowing him to heal properly," Dr. Ellen Bronson, senior director of animal health, conservation, and research at the Maryland Zoo, said in a statement.

Using metal bone plates, surgical wire, and sewing clasps, a team at the zoo was able to stabilize the broken shell, but they needed to figure out a way to keep the turtle elevated so his shell didn't hit the ground. Garrett Fraess, a veterinary extern, came up with a solution, drawing sketches of wheelchairs for the turtle, made out of Legos. A friend of his took the sketches, grabbed some Legos, and got to work.

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The turtle now has a custom wheelchair, its frame and wheels all made of the famous plastic bricks. "I was surprised how well it turned out and how well he's able to really express many of his normal behaviors," Fraess told Inside Edition. The turtle should be fully healed in a year, and then will be released back to the wild. Catherine Garcia