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First-grader Gracie Marvin was born without a right hand, making it difficult for her to master a classic elementary school rite of passage.
She’s always wanted to ride her bike without training wheels, but she couldn’t keep a bike balanced with just one hand.
Her cousin, Leah, explained in a blog post from their Springdale, Arkansas, school district. “Her mom told me she would like to have a device that would allow her to ride her bike. Our EAST students talked about it and wanted to help.”
The Arkansas-based nonprofit EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Initiative challenges students to improve their communities through projects using teamwork and technology.
Leah’s fifth-grade classmates sought out older students at the district’s Don Tyson School of Innovation to come up with a solution, and ninth-grader Steicy Lopez – described as a whiz on a 3-D printer – and her classmates met the challenge.
On a recent school day, they surprised her with the result — a hot pink bicycle with her name emblazoned on the frame. The left side of the handlebars has a hand brake, and the right has a softly padded cup — attached to a sturdy stem — that she can insert her arm into and use to steer comfortably.
Read the full article on the 3-D-printed bike prosthetic by Liz Steinke at The 74