About ZipperBuddy
“I didn’t want a medical label. I wanted to wear my own coat.”
Sandi DeRuntz · Founder and inventor
This is the story of how an artist, comic and mom of two built a way for anyone to zip the jacket they already love.
Chapter 1 · Meet Sandi
Artist. Comic. Problem solver.
Sandi grew up in a creative house. Her mom painted murals on the walls. Her dad fixed every problem like an engineer. Making things was simply how the family talked.
In her twenties she toured the country doing stand-up comedy, from Boston to Los Angeles, while raising two kids. All while living with lupus.
As her health changed, she kept noticing how many everyday things weren’t built for people like her. Closing a jacket could shape her whole day.
“It wasn’t that I wasn’t capable. It was that the world wasn’t built for my body’s new reality.”
Chapter 2 · The catalyst
Then she met Bob.
During the pandemic, Sandi and her kids lost their home in an apartment fire. Within a year she lost her closest friend, Amanda.
In Amanda’s honor, Sandi went back to school at UMass Lowell to study psychology, disability studies and studio art.
In a class called Adaptive Devices for Better Life, she met Bob, a stroke survivor. He told her he couldn’t zip his own jacket anymore.
Why it matters
“A jacket is not just a jacket in a New England winter. It’s warmth. Protection. Routine. Independence.”
Chapter 3 · The first ZipperBuddy
Office supplies, prototypes and a lot of tries.
Sandi looked for a way for Bob to zip his own coat. Most options meant throwing out your wardrobe for clothes that looked clinical. She wouldn’t accept that.
So she built one. With office supplies, quick prototypes and a lot of trial and error, she made the first ZipperBuddy: a no-sew, magnetic way to zip with one hand, in the coat you already own.
Then the awards started coming in.
- 2023Engineering Prototyping CompetitionFirst place for the first working prototype.
- 2024UMass Lowell 50K Idea ChallengeContribution to a Healthier Lifestyle Award.
- 2024Boston University IdeaConIgnite speaker.
- 2024NSF I-Corps and REMARKABLESelected for programs that support disability-led startups.
- 2025UMass Lowell Chancellor’s MedalFor Diversity and Inclusion.
- 2025New England Fashion WeekFeatured designer. ZipperBuddy on the runway.
Chapter 4 · Today
For us, by us.
Today ZipperBuddy MagZip pairs Sandi’s no-sew design with MagZip® magnetic zippers. You can order it right here at ANKHGEAR, and Sandi still builds every custom ZipperBuddy herself.
“ZipperBuddy looks like a tool, not a medical device, because that matters.”
It was built for stroke survivors, people with arthritis, older adults, caregivers and families. Anyone who’s ever had to ask, “Can you zip this for me?”
You got it.
Gear that gets out of your way.