Last month, 8-year-old Isabella received a gift. It was a 3-D printed arm designed to help her cope with a missing hand. Her priceless reaction was captured in a video recently uploaded on YouTube by Stephen Davies, the man responsible for the kindness.
One scene that perhaps captured everything about Isabella's emotions was when she was finally able to use it. Her face lit up and broke into a smile as she starts to grasp a toy, then lifts it, then shows it eagerly to watching adults.
"The gadget is so bright and bold that she insisted on wearing it to the local supermarket straight after she got it and proudly strutted around wanting the world to see it. She's been keen to show it off and explain how it works ever since she got it and to almost anyone that will listen," Isabella's father told Baby Center.
Davies was also a recipient of a 3-D printed hand from e-Nable. He was so touched by the gesture that he wants to pay the kindness forward by becoming an e-Nable volunteer and give the very 3-D printed arm that he created to Isabella. A related story has been reported by HNGN earlier.
e-Nable is a global network of passionate volunteers that prints prosthetic arms to disabled children. The group developed a digital design for the 3-D arm and distributes it for free "so that those in need of the device could make them for themselves or have someone make it for them," according to e-Nable's website.
Isabella is now part of e-Nable's volunteers who are beta testing the printed prosthetic hand so that it can be made better to suit the needs of different users.
