Mum tweets and engineering faculty answers creating a prosthetic hand for her daughter

When Chloe Smith, from England, was three, she had severe meningitis in the form of an acute infection of the bloodstream and inflammation of the blood vessels, which led to severe complications for the development of her joints, arms and legs: her right arm did not develop and her foot had to be amputated. She was already wearing a prosthetic leg, but she needed a hand.

It was when, her mother, Rachel, tweeted Chloe’s condition and her need for a prosthetic hand, that Willy Orozco, from the engineering faculty at Gulliver Schools in Miami, and Edward Whipple, a student, started the production of the hand.

After receiving Chloe’s measurements, Willy and Edward designed a prosthetic hand that allows Chloe to grab objects with ease by bending her elbow. Edwards travelled to England to personally deliver the hand to Chloe. “I am glad that it works, and I find that it is amazing how I have changed someone’s life, by just creating a small arm.”

Chloe is not the first child Gulliver had help. Since 2017, Willy Orozco and students Mark Libermann and Christopher Korn have been helping a Bolivian boy, building him two prosthetic hands to adapt to his growth.
Adapted from: https://communitynewspapers.com/pinecrest-tribune/gulliver-instructor-an...

More information:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-tees-44903562/the-moment-girl-8-g...
https://thefloridavillager.com/2018/11/02/willy-orozco-academy-engineeri...