Photo: Screenshot / KHON2 News
Helping Hands
Bubba is missing the right hand from birth. A 3D printer makes the unbelievable possible: The 3-year-old boy gets his first hand in Ironman optics.
Rayden Kahae lives on Maui. The 3-year-old boy, known by everyone as Bubba, is a happy kid, though he's different from his sister. Bubba suffers from the amniotic-band syndrome, short ABS, a congenital malformation of his hand. That he is different from others, the boy only realizes when his little sister is born. Although the malformed hand does not restrict him, Bubba still wants a second healthy hand. Now his dream has come true.
For a long time, it was clear to his family that the 3-year-old would have to live with his malformation. Prostheses were always too expensive - over $ 40, 000 should cost an artificial hand. Then his grandmother Rulan Waikiki makes a discovery: On the Internet, she comes across 3D printers that produce prostheses. These are a lot cheaper, just 50 bucks a freshly printed hand for Bubba cost . She turns to the organization E-Nable.
The 3-year-old is excited - but he does not want any prosthesis. The grandmother fulfills her grandchild's special wish: Bubba gets his prosthesis in Ironman look ! The family films the moment when the 3-year-old boy gets his hand out of the 3D printer and at the same time tries it out. Bubba holds his own hand for the first time. The boy is overwhelmed.
But the miracle of technology is not the only happiness the family experiences on Maui: The E-Nable organization, which specializes in 3D printed dentures, gives the boy an ironman-optic hand.
