http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/toddler-born-without-fingers-given-5338767

3 years old Brooke Hayes of Spalding, Lincs. has, thanks to a generous gift from a complete stranger, for the first time received fingers on her left hand that she can use:

Brooke was born with Symbrachydactyly (no fingers) on her left hand; although it is not supposed to be a genetic condition, Brooke’s grandmother was born with the same condition. Surgeons offered to transfer Brooke’s toes to her hands when 15 months old, but her mum declined that. At this moment no-one has a clue why it happens. It affects 1 in ~35,000 births.

Apart from the surgery that her mum declined there is no treatment for Symbrachydactyly. Brooke called the stump of her left hand her ‘little hand’, and was resigned to being like that for the rest of her life. Then Nichola heard the story of a six-year-old girl in Scotland who had received a 3D printed hand...

Nichola tracked down the girl’s mum on Facebook & was directed to the Enable Community Foundation, who connect volunteers with folks like Brooke. Nichola was contacted by Drew Murray; Drew had the necessary printer and was willing to both make & deliver it (a 250 mile [420km] round-trip). The main question was ‘What colours?’. Naturally, Brooke was mad on princesses & especially Sofia the First, so it was a no-brainer that the ‘big hand’ would be pink, purple & white:

As best as I can tell, these hands were originally designed by a South African carpenter Richard Van As + U.S. design partner Ivan Owen. Richard had lost four of his fingers in a circular saw accident, and wanted to be able to make it possible for anyone worldwide to download & print out a prosthetic hand. As Richard says, prosthetic limbs are ‘ridiculously expensive’, whereas in 2013 his hand could be printed for just £65 Sterling.

The way that her big hand works is that whenever Brooke bends her wrist the fingers close around an object. Once she straightens her hand, her fingers open up again.

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Alex Kemp