She has a robotic hand made by UNLV’s engineering department.
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The syndrome caused her hand to form with only a thumb and a pinky and nubbins in place of the remaining fingers, resembling the “hang loose” sign.
Meet Hailey Dawson, a five-year-old girl from Las Vegas who was born with a rare congenital disorder known as Poland Syndrome that left her with a right hand that wasn’t fully developed at birth. “Ultimately, the goal is not for her to just have her dream come true, but to also expose the hand… people can get this hand and it’s available to anybody”. The original hand is called the Robohand. After hearing about the Robohand and how 3D printers were creating low cost prosthetics, Hailey’s mother Yong Dawson took a chance and contacted a professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) to see if he could help.
Apparently Hailey isn’t the only inspirational one in her family either. The fingers grab when her wrist is down, and open up when her wrist moves upward.
And Orioles fans got to see her use it to throw out a very special ceremonial first pitch on Monday night.
On Monday, she got to put the incredible prosthetic hand to good use. He tells you he’s coming up with some ideas and wants to have further discussions.
“I picked eight different names from the front office and sent a two-page letter with a whole bunch of players”, Yong Dawson said.
Dawson may not have ever expected the Orioles to give her daughter the honor of throwing out the first pitch, but Hailey doesn’t even seem phased by it. In fact, she seems to nearly be thinking “of course, why wouldn’t they ask me to throw out the first pitch”.
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This is just so cool on so many levels.
