Students Use Tree Branch to Make Prosthetic Leg for Uninsured Boy

BRIDGETON, NJ - Christmas came early this year for an 11 year-old boy who recently lost half his right leg in a car accident.

With his family lacking health insurance and unable to pay for a pricey prosthetic, Jordan Liddle had resigned himself to being limbless long-term - that is until a group of his fellow Meriwether Lewis Middle School came together to give their friend a new lease on life.

Using little more than their ingenuity, a hacksaw and some wood glue, Hunter Reynolds, Dylan Carter and Riley Lacosse, all also 11, fashioned Liddle a new leg from a tree branch.

"We thought it was pretty lame that Jordan had to hop around on one leg just because his family can't afford insurance, so we cut a branch off a tree and stuck it on," Reynolds said.

Elaborating further on the details of the procedure, Reynolds explained: "We just sort of found a branch that was about leg-size and held it on there with the glue for a couple of minutes."

Meanwhile, Liddle's mother Gina, who, despite conceding that Jordan has been experiencing some scratching and splinters with his new appendage, expressed her gratitude to the plucky young engineers.

"It's just so heartwarming to think that even in a country where resources are so scarce that people are willing to come together to help one another," she said.