WTOL.com, Toledo's News Leader, News 11 | Adrian inventor makes kids' casts cool

Adrian inventor makes kids' casts cool

ADRIAN, Mich. (WTOL) - An Adrian woman is getting national recognition in this month's issue of Inventor's Digest Magazine.

Recovering from an injury has never been so much fun. Tracie Wood is the inventor of SHRINKins, a shrinkable film that goes on your cast, cane, wheelchair or walker to give it more personality.

It's breathable, reusable and activated by heat. A minute or two under the blow-dryer is all it takes to give your injury flare. "I thought of SHRINKins when I was just talking with a friend," said Wood, "I said, 'Ya know, they ought to make temporary tattoos for kids' casts to make it more fun and to help them get through the healing process.'"

It took two years to develop the idea. In the last three weeks, she's begun selling the product online featuring 16 designs from zoo animals to hummingbirds, even a skull and cross-bones for the tougher type.

Already, she has got the attention of Inventor's Digest Magazine and made it into this month's issue. "It's the 'Under the Radar' section. They put upcoming products that are new and different," said Wood.

Tracie will begin test-marketing in pharmacies and physical therapy facilities around the area  next month. She says it's just another step toward making the recovery process a happy one.

Real-life motivation

In 1990, Tracie Wood was in a terrible car accident where she suffered two crushed vertebras, a snapped sternum and two torn ligaments in her knee. She used a wheelchair, walker and crutches for several months while she recovered.

"It's hard to be stared at when you leave the house" Wood says. "This gives an injured person the opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.

"Now everybody's looking at your walker or your wheelchair and going 'oh my gosh, where did you get that, it's so cool.' Instead of saying 'oh, what happened to her?'"

How to buy and apply SHRINKins

SHRINKins are sold in a kit. Each kit has two 11x17 pieces of the design you choose. You cut the piece down to fit whatever you're wrapping - wheelchairs, crutches, casts, etc. Tape it down with the shrinkable tape that comes in the kit, then simply blow-dry it for a quick stick. SHRINKins are removable, reshrinkable and perforated for your cast to breathe.

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