A Beautiful World: Innovation, good will craft prosthetic arms in Sudan
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
When Mick Ebeling learned about a 14-year-old boy named Daniel Omar who had lost both arms during a bombing raid and was living in a refugee camp in Sudan, he decided to do something. But what? Ebeling, a television producer in Los Angeles, had no medical training.
Ebeling put out a call for ideas, designs and resources. Simply put, he crowdsourced the problem. An innovative solution for a prosthetic arm emerged. This design didn't require batteries or electricity. It was completely weather and waterproof. Best of all, the entire arm could be made cheaply on a 3-D printer.
Ebeling traveled with the prosthetic arm design and a 3-D printer to the refugee camp in the Nuba Mountains. There, he fitted Omar with a new pair of arms and established the first 3D-printing prosthetic lab and training facility in Sudan.
More information about Project Daniel is available here.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.