Tugging at heartstrings: 5yo girl born with one hand plays violin thanks to 3D-printing (VIDEO)
A Florida girl born without a left hand has been granted the gift of music after an engineering student created a 3D-printed prosthetic to help her learn to play the violin.
Five-year-old Neriah Rhodes has just two inches of her left arm below the elbow but has always dreamed of being able to play the instrument, according to KLTV. A local violin teacher then wrote to students at the private LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas, and asked if they could create a device that would help her achieve her dream.
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Biomedical engineer Drew Miles took up the task along with his professor, Dr Ko Sasaki, and after seven months and 15 prototypes, produced a 3D-printed prosthetic in Neriah’s favourite color: Pink. The girl’s mother Elizabeth praised Miles’s work and expressed her gratitude for the independence the finished product has given her. “She wasn’t needing anybody to help her and it was pretty incredible,” Elizabeth said.
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