Due to accidents or birth defects, not all of us are lucky enough to have full use of all our limbs and digits. Then there is also the issue with prosthetics, where the more advanced models that offer up a wider range of motion might be too expensive for some to afford. However, maybe all we need is just a really good friend.
Such is the case with New Jersey eighth grader, Sammy Salvano, who helped his friend, Ewan Kirby, by building him a robotic prosthetic hand that can open and close and pick up objects. Kirby was missing fingers on his left hand, so Salvano spent the summer trying to come up with a prosthetic for his friend.
The model he eventually came up with was made using a 3D printer and can open and shut, meaning that picking up objects isn’t an issue, as demonstrated by Kirby who managed to pick up his mom’s car keys in his left hand for the very first time. Salvano seems to be keen on tinkering and states that he hopes to graduate from Drexel, the same university his grandfather did, with an engineering degree.
He also says that his dream is to work for Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, who given how this story has gone viral, will hopefully reach out to the teen to offer some words of encouragement.