Artist Paints Shaping Helmet For Metro Baby

A metro artist took on an unusual project to help a single mother and a baby with special needs. She painted a medical helmet he wears to mold his head.

The artist is a member of the Paseo Arts Association in Oklahoma City. Her work has been in galleries all over the country, and now, it's being worn by a baby.

He's a happy, healthy baby boy now, almost 1 year old. Lincoln was born at 27 weeks. The first three months of his life were spent in the NICU. So he's now got some time to spend wearing a cranial molding helmet.

“He wasn’t able to be moved into a bunch of different positions so it caused a portion of his head to be misshaped. It’s flat and indented and that caused the front part of his head to kind of bulge,” said Roxanne Randall, Lincoln’s mom.

When Randall bought it, it looked like medical device. She wanted to swap the stark white, for something special.

She called the Paseo Arts Association and Angela “AK” Westerman took a break from her gallery work to paint this piece for Lincoln.

“This helmet I know cost thousands of dollars out of pocket for her so holding that tiny little thing that was specially made for Lincoln’s head, I was so careful,” Westerman said.

She spent eight hours on the helmet, drove to make a personal delivery and wouldn't take a dime.

“It feels good sometimes to do things for other people. She’s a single mom. I knew that. I knew her story. She’s working full time. She’s taking care of a baby with special needs,” Westerman added.

Randall said she loved how the helmet turned out and is forever grateful for Westerman’s help. 

“I really like on the back it has his name. I think that’s probably my favorite,” she said.

And now, the little pilot is ready to take on what's next and turn heads for a good reason.

“It’s more of like, ‘Oh – that’s really neat!’ versus ‘Oh what is he wearing that for?’” Randall said.

Westerman hopes to help other babies like Lincoln with her work.

Click here to contact Westerman and click here to view her Facebook page.