- Lyndsey Stamper had her 6’7″ son Hank check out the beds throughout school visits to see if he would match
- Throughout freshman orientation this previous summer season, Hank climbed onto the usual twin XL mattress — which 80 inches lengthy — after committing to enjoying baseball at Fort Hays State College in Hays, Kansas. He did not match within the mattress
- So, Lyndsey and her husband James got here up with a inventive answer, which has since gone viral on TikTok with 1.5 million views
When Lyndsey Stamper and her son Hank went on school visits, she would at all times have him check out the beds to see if he would match. Nevertheless, Hank, who’s 6’7″ and 230 lbs., by no means did.
So, when the 18-year-old determined to decide to enjoying baseball at Fort Hays State College in Hays, Kansas, the household knew they wanted to test how he’d match into his mattress there. Throughout freshman orientation this previous summer season, Hank climbed onto the dual XL mattress — 80 inches lengthy — and it was instantly clear it wasn’t going to work.
The household filmed a video, capturing how Hank didn’t match within the beds, on the desk and even via the doorways of the constructing. The video shortly gained quite a lot of views and responses on TikTok. “If you be taught nothing in your dorm is large enough!” Lyndsey captioned the video.
Courtesy of Lyndsey Stamper
After orientation, Lyndsey, 48, and her husband James contacted the varsity and different potential helpers, however whereas they have been sympathetic, they knowledgeable them that Hank had already been given the most important mattress out there. That’s when the household knew they needed to discover a answer on their very own.
“I appeared on-line to see if there was something we may buy to increase the mattress,” Lyndsey tells PEOPLE. “There have been choices to make the mattress wider, however nothing to make it longer. I advised my husband we wanted to create one thing so as to add one other foot or so to the mattress. The toughest half was designing an answer that wouldn’t contain drilling into or damaging the school-provided mattress body.”
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Courtesy of Lyndsey Stamper
Main as much as move-in day, the household brainstormed a couple of concepts. With out entry to the precise mattress, it was difficult to give you a exact plan, in order that they labored from the photographs and movies Lyndsey had taken through the summer season go to. Her husband went to the ironmongery shop and acquired the provides they thought they would wish: wooden, helps and a method to connect every part. “Past that, we have been figuring it out as we went,” she says.
On move-in day, they introduced the supplies, together with a noticed, and started working. The ultimate design was fairly easy: two boards minimize to suit the mattress’s width, held collectively by two L-braces and supported by two triangle brackets (pictured above). The extender was secured with zip ties, guaranteeing that nothing was drilled into the varsity’s picket mattress body. The extender added an additional 12 inches to the mattress’s size from the pinnacle.
As soon as the undertaking was full, the household posted a follow-up video of the completed outcomes on TikTok; it went viral with greater than 1.5 million views. Lyndsey says studying via the feedback, she noticed how supportive and anxious folks have been about her son being comfy in school.
“It has labored completely! He’s a month in and has zero complaints. I added an additional cushion onto the extender and it sleeps very comfortably,” Lyndsey says. “I had no clue it will get that viral! It’s clear there are lots of people on the market with the identical drawback my son has … We all know the world is not constructed for folks his measurement.”
