Alabama high school student builds prosthetic ‘superhero’ hands for kids around the world

A high school junior with a brain for engineering and a heart of gold – a real life combination of Iron Man and Captain America – has helped design and build prosthetic hands for 30 children on the other side of the world.

Zach McCleery, a junior at St. Luke’s Episcopal School in Mobile, Alabama, has always had a passion for engineering ever since he played with Legos as a child. He got involved with robotics and engineering at St. Luke’s and also started attending Auburn University’s BEST – Boosting Engineering Science and Technology – program. BEST, which is sponsored by the College of Sciences and Mathematics and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, provides students with real-world engineering experiences and teaches them to be more prepared when they enter the workforce.

Inspired by his experiences at BEST while looking for an Eagle Scout project, McCleery decided to buy, construct, and produce affordable prosthetic hands to ship overseas to children in Vietnam.

Countries like Vietnam have some access to prosthetic hands, but they can cost up to $100,000 and children outgrow them quickly. McCleery connected with Enable Community Foundation in Opelika to complete his project. Enable’s prosthetics only cost $40, and the company ships their hands to their recipients for free. The organization has given out 1,500 hands across the world so far, and their base design is available for anyone to use.

Enable works with volunteers across the world and uses 3D printing technology to design and distribute hand and arm prosthetics to underserved populations. Enable makes their prosthetic limbs fun – they’re made of plastic and are use bright colors, but they look like Iron Man himself could have designed them.

“My aunt knew how interested I was in prosthetic hands and engineering things that can grab, and she is actually the one who told me about Enable,” said McCleery. “I saw the prosthetic hand and thought it was the coolest thing. I fell in love with the idea of being able to create a hand for a child or an adult, and, although I am only a junior in high school, being able to change someone’s life.”

McCleery worked with Melina Brown, director of case management and quality assurance for Enable, to design a prototype hand for Brown’s son. After the first hand was designed, McCleery sponsors and 100 volunteers for a massive hand-building workshop, which ultimately produced 28 hands.

McCleery presented his project to Brown and Enable during the South’s BEST Robotics championship at Auburn. The hands were shipped off to change the lives of 30 children in Vietnam, which McCleery says is the ultimate goal.

“To be able to change someone’s life, like, a kid who didn’t have a hand, to be able to give them a hand so they can ride a bike or climb a tree, ride a scooter, or whatever, to be able to truly change someone’s life, especially as a junior in high school, is incredible,” McCleery said. “This isn’t about my Eagle Scout project; it’s about the kids I have been fortunate enough to help – those kids are the true heroes.”

(h/t Candis Birchfield)