A SON’S AMAZING GIFT
Video games are a cool way for a father and son to bond. But for teen Robbie Freis it was no longer possible. His dad, Jason, a former US Marine, had lost his arm in combat in Iraq 11 years ago so for him manipulating a gaming console was out of the question.
Then Robbie stepped in. The enterprising high school student from Missouri decided to print his dad an arm.
“After I created that 3D-printed adapter, my dad was able to play video games with us again at full speed,” Robbie says.
Until recently Jason, who was injured in a missile attack, had a standard metal hook-like prosthesis for a hand, but thanks to his son he now sports a supercool upgrade.
A robotics whizz, Robbie used a special scanner to capture a 3D model of his dad’s left hand, then flipped the model to make a prosthetic right hand that fits perfectly. He used his school’s 3D printer to fashion the limb, which took about three months to complete.
The fingers can move and Jason can do father-and-son stuff with Robbie he previously only dreamt of. A touching online video shows Jason in a park pitching a baseball with his prosthetic hand.
“I think the arm is really cool and I’m really proud of Robbie,” a beaming Jason told ABC News.
Robbie wants to go into robotics after he’s finished school.
“He knows how to get projects done and comes up with amazing things,” says Derek Ward, the teen’s school robotics adviser. “He’s been on the robotics team for six years and I’m not surprised he can pull something like this off.”