AGAIN, THATāS TONIGHT AT 6:00. NEW TONIGHT AT FIVE. AN UPDATE TO A STORY WE BROUGHT YOU ABOUT A WILKES COUNTY GOATS JOURNEY TO WALK AGAIN. JOSHUA DAVIS IS AT WILKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE WITH EVERYONEāS FAVORITE KID IN TONIGHTāS 12. INSPIRES. YOU KNOW, THE BIG DAY IS HERE WITH MILLIE THE GOAT FINALLY TAKING HER FIRST STEPS. THE STUDENTS WHO BUILT AND DESIGNED HER LEGS SAY ITāS AN EXPERIENCE THEYāLL NEVER FORGET. SHE IS ACTUALLY LEVEL, AND SHEāS STANDING UP LIKE A NORMAL GOAT. AND THAT JUST MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO SEE ITāS JUST A LITTLE BIT EMOTIONAL. WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS? AFTER WEEKS OF MEASURING, DESIGNING, PRINTING AND TESTING, MILLIE THE GOAT IS STANDING TALL ON FOUR LEGS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THANKS TO THE EXPERTISE OF WILKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE ENGINEERING STUDENTS. BRIAN HARTZOG SAYS ALL OF THIS STARTED FROM A PHONE CALL, AND IāM LIKE, THATāS ODD. BUT AS I DROVE HOME, IāM LIKE, OKAY, THAT COULD BE SOMETHING WE COULD WE COULD DO MAYBE OR AT LEAST TRY. HE THEN BROUGHT IT TO HIS STUDENTS, WHO QUICKLY SPLIT THE TEAMS TO DESIGN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE LEG AND ULTIMATELY BRING IT TOGETHER. THEREāS A LOT OF MOVING PARTS TO IT, ESPECIALLY WITH ERGONOMICS, BECAUSE ONE OF MY MAIN CONCERNS GOING INTO THIS DESIGN PROCESS WAS I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I DO MORE HELP THAN HARM, BECAUSE IF YOU DONāT DO IT RIGHT, YOU MIGHT END UP INJURING THE ANIMAL MORE THAN HELPING IT. HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY KNOWING THAT TODAY IS THE FINAL FITTING AND WE GOT TO SEE MILLIE TAKE HER FIRST STEPS. I WAS A LITTLE NERVOUS AT FIRST COMING INTO THIS BECAUSE JUST BECAUSE ITāS BEEN A LONG DESIGN PROCESS AND ITāS BEEN DIFFICULT TRYING TO MAKE SURE ALL THE ERGONOMICS AND STUFF ACTUALLY WORKED WELL. BUT AFTER SEEING HER ACTUALLY TAKE HER FIRST FEW STEPS WITH IT AND THEN BEING PRETTY SOLID STEPS, A LOT OF THAT NERVOUSNESS WAS RELIEVED. THANKFULLY, TIFFANY SAYS SHE CANāT HELP BUT BE GRATEFUL FOR EVERYONE WHO STEPPED IN TO MAKE TODAY POSSIBLE. IāM SO THANKFUL FOR THAT AND MY HEART IS FULL BECAUSE OF IT. AND MILLIEāS JOURNEY DOESNāT END HERE. SHE AND TIFFANY WILL COME BACK TO WILKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR UPGRADES AND READJUSTMENTS TO HER LEG AS NEEDED. IN WILKES COUNTY, IāM JOSHUA DAVIS FOR WXII 12 NEWS. I FEEL LIKE JOSHUA CAN GOAT SIT BECAUSE HE KEEPS BONDING WITH MILLIE OR ONE OF THOSE KIDS, THE STUDENTS. ITāS COOL TO SEE THAT FULL CIRCLE MOMENT FOR THEM, THOUGH. YEAH, THEYā
News We Love: Baby goat gets prosthetic leg, designed and built by NC engineering students
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Updated: 4:30 PM CDT May 31, 2025
A baby goat is finally able to walk on four legs again, thanks to the hard work and expertise of Wilkes Community College engineering students in North Carolina. The students who designed and built her leg say itās an experience theyāll never forget."She is actually level, and she's standing up like a normal goat," said Tiffany Shepherd, Millie's owner. "That just makes me so happy to see."It took the students weeks of measuring, designing, printing, and testing to get Millie standing tall. Bryan Hartzog, the lead instructor for industrial engineering at WCC, said all of this started from a phone call from Shepherd asking for his help. "I'm like, 'that's odd,'" said Hartzog. "But as I drove home, I'm like, 'OK, that could be something we could do maybe, or at least try.'" He then brought it to his students, who quickly split into teams to design different parts of the leg and ultimately bring it together. "There's a lot of moving parts to it, especially with ergonomics," said WCC student Ethan Jacko. "One of my main concerns going into this design process was, I want to make sure I do more help and harm, because if you don't do it right, you might end up injuring the animal more than helping it.Students tell WXII they were nervous at first, going into this design and development process."It's been difficult trying to make sure all the ergonomics and stuff actually worked well," said student Matt Coleman. "But after seeing her actually take her first few steps with it and them being pretty solid steps, a lot of that nervousness was relieved." Shepherd said that she canāt help but be grateful for everyone who stepped in to make this possible. "I'm so thankful for that, and my heart is full because of it," she said.Millieās journey doesnāt end here; she and Shepherd will keep coming back for upgrades and readjustments as needed.
A baby goat is finally able to walk on four legs again, thanks to the hard work and expertise of Wilkes Community College engineering students in North Carolina. The students who designed and built her leg say itās an experience theyāll never forget.
"She is actually level, and she's standing up like a normal goat," said Tiffany Shepherd, Millie's owner. "That just makes me so happy to see."
It took the students weeks of measuring, designing, printing, and testing to get Millie standing tall.
Bryan Hartzog, the lead instructor for industrial engineering at WCC, said all of this started from a phone call from Shepherd asking for his help.
"I'm like, 'that's odd,'" said Hartzog. "But as I drove home, I'm like, 'OK, that could be something we could do maybe, or at least try.'"
He then brought it to his students, who quickly split into teams to design different parts of the leg and ultimately bring it together.
"There's a lot of moving parts to it, especially with ergonomics," said WCC student Ethan Jacko. "One of my main concerns going into this design process was, I want to make sure I do more help and harm, because if you don't do it right, you might end up injuring the animal more than helping it.
Students tell WXII they were nervous at first, going into this design and development process.
"It's been difficult trying to make sure all the ergonomics and stuff actually worked well," said student Matt Coleman. "But after seeing her actually take her first few steps with it and them being pretty solid steps, a lot of that nervousness was relieved."
Shepherd said that she canāt help but be grateful for everyone who stepped in to make this possible.
"I'm so thankful for that, and my heart is full because of it," she said.
Millieās journey doesnāt end here; she and Shepherd will keep coming back for upgrades and readjustments as needed.
