Kenzie's Helping Hands

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!

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to help 20 middle school students from Evansville at their summer robotics camp. It was fantastic because we assembled a dozen Phoenix Hands and learned about prosthetics along the way.

Finished Elle’s hand! She loves Harry Potter, so her mom requested the Deathly Hallows symbol to be added to her device.

My Lucky Fin friends are always wearing T-shirts captioned, "I have a limb difference. What's your superpower?" and that's the truth! Superhero arms are my new favorite.

I've spent some time creating a pink and purple, Sleeping Beauty themed Phoenix V2 hand. Check it out!

I’ve had the awesome opportunity to discuss my projects with both Apex and QualEx Engineering firms in Mount Vernon. I loved interacting with the engineering professionals, as they all gave me really great ideas for the future. They were very appreciative of my work and I’m very thankful to have been able to share it with them!

Super stoked! Got approved to fit and print the Phoenix V2 device for clients!

Today, JoJo Gentry from 44 News wrote a followup article on the progress Kenzie’s Helping Hands has made. Once again, I’m thrilled at the opportunity of addressing a larger scale audience on the matters of the limb different community. My ultimate goal is to be an influencer towards the ubiquitous issues that plague our community. Examples of such concerns are how the world views the term “disability” and the connotations it possesses that impinge our image, the lack of awareness surrounding the condition of limb loss itself, the deprivation of information given to new parents of limb different children at hospitals, the insufficiency of disability representation in the entertainment and fashion industries, and the inaccessibility of technologically advanced, cost effective prosthetics. That’s my dream, but anyway, here’s the link:  Mount Vernon Soccer Star Gets Approval to Make Hands for Limb Different People

I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to spread limb difference awareness on such a grand platform! JoJo Gentry from 44 News interviewed me about my completion of the e-NABLE Phoenix V2 3D printed hand after viewing my initial Tweet regarding the device. The interview really put in perspective for me just how many people can be reached through the media and how the number of views impacted my continued campaign for limb difference awareness. Every effort made directly promotes the familiarization of our condition. Here’s the link to the interview:  Mt. Vernon Soccer Star with Limb Difference Builds 3D Hand I received so many notes following the interview’s airing, and I’m so grateful for all of the support!