Brick by brick teen builds own prosthetic arm
DAVID Aguilar built himself a robotic prosthetic arm using Lego pieces after being born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition.
Aguilar, 19, who studies bioengineering at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Spain, is already using his fourth model and his dream is to design affordable robotic limbs for those who need them.
Once his favourite toys, the plastic bricks became the building material for Aguilar’s first artificial arm at the age of 9, and each new version had more movement capability than before.
“As a child I was very nervous to be in front of other guys, because I was different, but that didn’t stop me believing in my dreams,” Aguilar, who is from Andorra, told Reuters.
“I wanted to see myself in the mirror like I see other guys, with two hands,” said Aguilar, who uses the artificial arm only occasionally and is self-sufficient without it.
A presentation video on his YouTube channel he runs under the nickname “Hand Solo” says his aim is to show people that nothing is impossible and disability cannot stop them
After graduating, he wants to create affordable prosthetic solutions. |