‘Awesome’ Hand Device Presented to 7-Year-Old

VILLAS – “Awesome” was how everyone described the moment that 7-year-old Lyla Woolslayer first tried on her new three-dimensional mechanical hand, designed and built by three freshmen at Lower Cape May Regional High School.
“This is amazing,” Mom Heather said, “I am so impressed with what you were able to do. You definitely need to put this on your resume.”
Woolslayer directed her comments to Michael Hickman, Julian Atwood and Raine McNeil, the students who designed and built the 3-D hand in Woolslayer’s favorite colors, pink and purple.
Additionally, they customized it: McNeil designed six hearts that adorned each side of the hand, Atwood designed a glow-in-the-dark heart that topped it, and Hickman placed the stars on either side.
“We wanted to help people out,” Atwood said about why he was involved with the project. “If someone could do a little more because of this hand, then that’s great.”
As part of a global group called “Enabling the Future,” enablingthefuture.org, the students looked for someone who needed a hand they could design and print to perform specific tasks.
Tish Carpinelli, school media specialist, and Kevin Hildebrandt, special education math teacher at the school, worked with the boys to present the hand to Woolslayer.
“What’s really cool is that I saw the Herald story about the 3-D hand on Facebook,” Woolslayer, a Mays Landing resident, said. “In addition, someone had sent it to my daughter’s physical therapist who thought it might work for Lyla. And here we are.
“Lyla is incredibly self-reliant,” her mother noted, “so I wanted to be sure this would not take away from what she can already do. This is awesome.”
One activity that Lyla was anxious to try was boxing with the Wii. “She will be able to hold the wand in both hands,” her mother explained, “and she can now jump rope.” She already rides a bike and does gymnastics.
According to the Enabling the Future organization, an individual must have at least 30 degrees of motion in either wrist or elbows to have movements in the 3-D device. It can function in a grasping motion and can be used as a tool for specific tasks.
“We cautioned her mother that it might not work,” Carpinelli admitted, “and we told her we might have to make some adjustments. We’ll work with her along the way as she grows up and needs bigger devices. We want to help.”
Initially, Woolslayer looked in awe at her new device, admitting she thought it would be smaller than it was. Carpinelli explained that her mother traced her other hand to help the school team determine the correct sizing. The girl had not been fitted or seen the device before it was presented to her and Hildebrandt helped make mechanical adjustments while she was at the school.
“I think the hardest part was stringing the fingers to the wrist,” Atwood said, describing the process of putting the hand together.
McNeil agreed, adding that adjusting the joints was also difficult. “We hope to do more (devices) next year,” they noted.
Before designing Lyla’s hand, the boys built their first hand by following designs provided by the Enabling the Future organization. The organization validated their work, and the boys customized another hand that included the school’s mascot (a tiger) and the school’s initials. This was their first hand designed specifically for a person.
“Once we got used to the software design program, it was quite simple to use,” McNeil said.
“You can throw snowballs now without your hand getting cold,” Hildebrandt told Lyla.
As she went to shake her mother’s hand, Lyla grinned and said, “Wow, I can actually do this now.” Within a half hour of receiving the device, she also proudly showed how she could grab a bunch of red grapes and said she planned to wear the device to school the next day.
“She’s always wishing that she had another hand,” Grace, 12, said as she watched her sister become accustomed to the device. “This is pretty cool.”
Woolslayer and her husband adopted Lyla and her two sisters from China. Lyla, who was born without a hand, was in an orphanage before coming to the United States just four days before turning 3.
“She had to learn English,” her mom said, “and had to undergo physical and occupational therapy. She is always pushing herself, so I knew she would make this work.”
Hildebrandt, Carpinelli and the three freshmen all promised Woolslayer that they would provide continued support as her daughter grew and would need additional adjustments or devices.
“I hope we can keep doing this until we’re seniors and graduate,” Atwood said. “This was just awesome to work on and see. We never imagined that we could help someone like this.”
Carpinelli said she “loved the challenge” that designing and building the device presented. “I didn’t really think anything was too difficult in the process. My goal when I got the printer was to make an impact in the community. Seeing this come to fruition is just awesome. I never envisioned we’d be doing something like this.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.