Kenzie's Helping Hands

Recently, I have begun discerning types of careers which I could pursue that involve working with the limb different community. I feel incorporating my passions into my job would offer me the most meaningful and fulfilling career. So far, I have explored options in the sports adaptive community such as Paralympics and Nike, as well as the prosthetic device industry, such as Coapt and Hanger. The future is bright, and I am so thankful to know all of these amazing people who are helping me along the way!

Over winter break, I was able to experiment with some casting designs for my BeBionic prosthesis. After lots of trial and error, I found it was easier to print the sleeve vertically according to my arm's dimensions, as opposed to flat and thermoforming the print around my prosthesis. I thought this would be a cool way for me to make my prosthesis seem even more futuristic! Here are pictures of a flat test print, as well as the final product.

Meet Valentina, Notre Dame e-NABLE’s newest device recipient! I first met Valentina at SheLift in 2019, and as the Freshman Representative for our e-NABLE club, I thought she would be a perfect fit for our program. Over this semester, our student volunteers will design and fabricate a free prosthesis for her. To start this process, I met up with Valentina and her mom to discuss what she wants in a prosthesis. Currently, she wants to improve on riding her bicycle and requested we decorate her new device with butterflies. 

 The last summer project of 2020: Eli's Kwawu Arm!

We completed Josiah's Captain America themed hand! 

Sending Julia’s first version hand! So exciting for her!

Assembling Jerry’s fingers! They’re a mixture of flex and PLA filament.

Finished with Elam’s new hand! Sending it to his family tomorrow!

I got the chance to share e-NABLE with Youth Resources early Friday morning! Everyone was so welcoming, and I am so thankful for the opportunity!

Great work day today! I had 4/6 printers going! Progress is so exciting. Thank you to USI for letting us borrow two XYZ printers!

I’m so busy I forget to update my site! Here’s Jerry and I at e-NABLE Evansville testing out some finger prosthetics! We’re trying several different approaches and aiming for the best mobility and comfort levels.

Prototype is almost finished! Working on the mechanics right now.

After meeting Valentina and her mom in Utah, I learned that they live in Washington! I was so excited to tell them I only live an hour away, and that my high school soccer team would be traveling to Washington for a game two weeks later! Not only did Valentina get to watch my game, she was also able to walk out with my team and participate in our team break before the game. She was wearing a T-shirt that read “BFF 25”, which was the cutest! My team loved meeting her, and she was so happy we won the game for her.

SheLift was nothing short of awesome! I met up with my best friend Lily and a dozen other limb different women in Utah! We tried adaptive yoga, archery, rock climbing, hiking, and a ropes course. I got to meet so many incredible women, and I’m so thankful for the experience. Lily and I dressed up as pirates for the costume party and won “Best Duo”!

This past Thursday, I had the humbling opportunity to present Kenzie’s Helping Hands at the annual Posey County United Way Leadership Dinner. I was awarded with the 2019 Youth Spirit Award for leadership, community service, and volunteerism. I invited several of my teachers to hear my presentation because my teachers haven’t had the opportunity to learn about Kenzie’s Helping Hands. The crowd was so appreciative, and I received over $600 in donations for my upcoming projects with Mount Vernon’s Riley Dance Marathon and Mount Vernon Girl STEMpowerment.

The second Ivy Tech Robotics Camp of the summer took place this past week and I had so much fun! The students were incredible to work with and we all thoroughly enjoyed building more Phoenix Hands!

I’m home from NubAbility Camp! This year we had 170+ limb different campers with 60+ limb different coaches! It was such an honor to get to coach these wonderful kiddos again. We played lots of tennis and soccer, laughed a ton, and made so many memories. On the first night of camp, one of my players won a raffle and picked me to be dunked in the dunk tank! I love my players so much and I’m so proud to know them.