A group of high school students at West Catholic High School in Michigan gave a 4-year-old girl Harmony Taylor the gift of a lifetime on Thursday, Dec.19: a 3D printed robohand.

 

Harmony was born with "limb differences" that resulted in her not having any fingers on her right hand. Harmony got a prosthetic about a year and a half ago and that cost $5,000, said Harmony's mother Melanie Peterman. "But all it did was pinch and really wasn't practical for a kid her age."

 

Prior to school starting, Harmony's preschool teacher, Betty Krzyszton, had a home visit with the family and then she began looking for resources on the Internet and found out about the Robohand. Krzyszton helped the family connect with the school when insurance wouldn't pay for it.

 

West Catholic students Tim Liu, 18, and Aimee Kalczuk, 17, and their team spent approximately six weeks to build the hand using a 3D printer that was donated to their school. The device is a plastic cuff that fits on the girl's hand, with fingers attached. In the past six weeks the team spent about two hours in the evenings once a week to complete the project.

 

The team presented the 3D printed robohand to Harmony and her family for the first time Thursday. "It is so great to be able do something that can change her life," said Liu.