3-D printing: Dad builds prosthetic hand for son
Twelve-year-old Leon McCarthy was born different. Due to a complication during gestation, Leon was born without any fingers on his left hand. Thanks to his persistent father Paul McCarthy, a special effects artist, and a state-of-the-art 3-D printer, Leon no longer sees himself as different. He鈥檚 special, he says.
caught up with Leon and his dad last month. Since the story has been picked up by additional news outlets, including FoxNews, msnNOW, and NPR.
What鈥檚 so appealing about Leon鈥檚 story that it warrants so much media attention? Prosthetics are nothing new. Archaeologists found an Ancient fashioned out of wood and leather when excavating a tomb in 2000, LiveScience reported. Prosthetic limbs have come a long way since then. Prosthetic legs have become a routine sight around Boston, where dozens of people injured by during the Boston Marathon bombings are learning to navigate on their new high-tech legs.
Yet Leon鈥檚 story has bobbed to the surface amid a sea of heartwarming stories of amputees that have been able to make their bodies whole again with the help of technology. What鈥檚 truly amazing about Leon鈥檚 hand is that his dad made it for him on a 3-D printer, for a miniscule fraction of the cost of traditional prosthetics.
After scouring the Internet for two years in search of blueprints for a new hand for his son, Mr. McCarthy stumbled across Ivan Owen, a special effects artist and puppeteer 聽from Bellingnam, Wash. who had successfully created mechanical fingers for a carpenter and a 5-year-old boy in South Africa.
When McCarthy told Leon what he had found, the 12-year-old was skeptical, Ms. Miller reports. However, the proof is in the fingers. Leon鈥檚 colorful new digits are dexterous enough to manipulate a pencil. And for the first time, he tells Miller, he feels, 鈥渟pecial instead of different.鈥�
And dad couldn鈥檛 be happier. 鈥淢aking your kids happy is the most rewarding thing you could have as a dad,鈥� McCarthy told Miller.
