TYLER, Texas — A Tyler man invented a medical device that is now helping people across the country.
Pill Puncher inventor Nathan Lamaster said he got the idea for his creation while working in forensic psychology. He was working with nurses who were treating patients in psychiatric facilities and noticed they were having difficulty opening pill packets.
"Being a psych ward they can’t use sharp objects for obvious reasons. So they told me I could create something like that it would be awesome for them," Lamaster said.
About five years in the making, 26 prototypes and countless hours perfecting the device, the Pill Puncher almost didn’t make it to store shelves.
"Then it (the Pill Puncher) died after I partnered with a company out of California that ended up being fraudulent. That company ended up taking a lot of money from me so that killed my momentum," Lamaster said.
That momentum picked back up after the Tyler mayor, Don Warren, and the president of Innovation Pipeline, Phil Burks, invested in the product.
"They became investors, and they brought life back into it," Lamaster said.
For Sharlisha Spier, this is an invention that brings real solutions to her and to those she took care of at a nursing home.
"(A) 97-year-old man sat there with me and punched everyone of those things out and put them in a bottle. He hated those blister packs," Spier said. "For me as well. I have neuropathy and severe carpal tunnel in my hands and I do have somethings in blister packets."
Lamaster's dream is now helping others.
"Hearing that it’s actually helped people. Something that started up here and it actually solves a problem. That’s the dream," Lamaster said.
For more information on the Pill Puncher, you can click here.