Man Gets a Hand from LCMR HS to Lend a Hand

VILLAS – Andrew Hull wants to provide a helping hand, despite being born without most of his left hand. The 24-year-old who just moved to Virginia Beach, Va. is the second person to receive a three-dimensional mechanical hand built by a team from Lower Cape May Regional High School.
While he has learned to do almost everything from tying his shoes to playing bass guitar, Hull hopes his feedback on the device will help others.
“Since I was born without my fingers and just a partial thumb,” he said, “I’m used to it. I have taught myself how to do things. When I heard about the school’s project, I thought I could try and help them by providing feedback to help others. I also hope the hand will help me, such as helping me to grab things and doing other things where I need to be using two hands instead of one.”
Hull got the device July 10, and thinks it’s “Pretty neat. Tish (Carpinelli) told me it was the first step toward providing a really functional hand and already it’s doing a good job in helping me pick up things, like a bottle of vitamins, and a glass of water.”
Carpinelli, school media specialist, and Kevin Hildebrandt, special education math teacher at the school, have been working with some of the students and a global group called “e-Nabling the Future.”
The organization (http://enablingthefuture.org/) was inspired by two strangers who lived 10,000 miles apart, a prop maker from the United States and a carpenter from South Africa.
They created a prosthetic hand device for a small child in South Africa and then gave the plans away free so those in need could make a device for themselves, or for others.
“Part of the requirement was that our students learn how to create a 3-D model, and then eventually print the model hand from the designs that the organization provides,” Carpinelli said. “Once the hand is printed, it needs to be put together mechanically and shown that it works.”
Carpinelli, Hildebrandt and three freshmen helped build and customize a 3-D device for a seven-year-old girl from Mays Landing last month.
Michael Hickman, Julian Atwood and Raine McNeill, students in Hildebrandt’s class, worked on some customization for Hull’s device originally, but that customization was altered at Hull’s request after the first fitting.
“The new style was different and we couldn’t incorporate their work, unfortunately,” Carpinelli said. “They did help assemble the fingers on the hand Andrew received, but because the school year ended, Kevin and I finished the final assembly.”
According to the Enabling the Future organization, an individual must have at least 30 degrees of motion in either wrist or elbows to have movement in the 3-D device. It can function in a grasping motion and be used as a tool for specific tasks. However, they caution that it is “not a full blown prosthetic. You can’t control individual finger movements and it can’t bear weight.”
Hull’s hand uses a different model than ones previously built by the LCMR team, and already Carpinelli and Hildebrandt saw ways for improvement. “All in all, at least Andrew has a hand to try out,” she noted, “and we can go from there, making improvements or even printing an entirely new hand for him in a different design in September.
“I got a small grant for the 3-D mechanical hands, so we’ll have funding for materials,” she added, “and I know that Kevin’s students will enjoy improving on the design.”
Hull has learned how to adapt to not having a left hand, often using his body to help hold an item, for example.
As a youngster, he recalled his parents taking him to Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia because he wanted to be able to use a baseball glove. Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of 22 medical facilities across North America where children can receive services, regardless of ability to pay, for orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate.
“The glove didn’t fit on my hand without any fingers so they molded some material to my wrist and forehand to help make plastic fingers,” he recalled. “Then I put a sock on my hand and slid the glove on it, so I was at least able to use the glove to hold the ball and play catch in the yard.”
He also remembers his parents taking him to different Shriners’ hospitals in a number of states when he was younger, looking for ways to give him fingers.
“To show you how far we’ve come, I remember my parents being told that one option was to transplant bones from my toes and put them where my fingers would have been. Eventually they would grow out,” he said, “but my parents didn’t want me to have a messed up foot and hand, so we passed on that option.”
So what are the next steps?
Hull’s next step is starting a new job in Virginia Beach working for a political party in preparation for the 2016 election. He intends to work closely with Carpinelli and the team to provide feedback on how the device might be improved.
As for Carpinelli and the team, she said, “When we joined e-Nable, it was for the intent of getting matched to a person who needs a hand, which can take months, as the group has grown exponentially in the last six months, and meeting the demands is a challenge right now.
“But I have no doubt that they will match us in the near future with someone else, either in our area or even another country,” she added.
“The good thing is that now we have a little experience, and it should be easier! I know both Kevin and I are excited to see who our next match is, and what challenges he or she presents. And Kevin’s students will jump at the chance to work on a new match as well,” she concluded.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.