Imagine the Gift of a New Hand

Brett Ford is a network control specialist in Charlotte, North Carolina. He diagnoses problems on our wireless network and helps fix them. That’s much like his role as a dad.

Brett’s 13-year old daughter, Reagan, was born with a rare birth defect. She has only two fingers on her right hand.

Both Brett and Reagan had to learn to do things with one hand. From tying shoes to riding a bike, the simplest things are big challenges. They take ingenuity to overcome.

One day, Brett came across the e-NABLE website. It’s a network of volunteers who use 3D printers to make prosthetic hands. They share the plans so others can do the same.

Brett did a lot of research, ordered a high-end 3D printer, and spent close to 40 hours assembling it.

He then used a trace of Reagan’s hand to create the printing specifications. He spent $50 for the plastic and other raw material. That’s a far cry from the $32,000 he figured a prosthetic hand would cost..

The 3D printer hummed and buzzed for hours, creating the hand layer by layer. It took several tries, but Brett finally gave the gift of a hand to his daughter.

“It was almost enough to make you cry,” Brett said. “Reagan sent me a video. Just to see the look in her eyes when she caught that ball with the new hand for the first time was unbelievable. It’s something she hasn’t done in 13 years.”

“He’s just one of the best dads I could ask for,” Reagan said. “My dad inspires me to always give 100% in everything I do.”