Five-year-old girl with 3D-printed prosthetic hand throws first pitch

Five-year-old Hailey Dawson was born with a rare disorder that leaves her unable to use her right hand, but that didn’t stop her from throwing out the first pitch at Monday’s Baltimore Orioles game.

Five-year-old Hailey Dawson was born with a rare disorder that left her right hand underdeveloped, but that didn’t stop her from throwing out the first pitch at Monday’s Baltimore Orioles game. 

Hailey has Poland Syndrome, which affects the pectoral muscle in the chest and the fingers on one hand. Thanks to the engineering department at UNLV, though, she is able grip objects with a 3D-printed robotic prosthesis.

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Hailey lives in Las Vegas but her father is from Maryland and their family roots for the Orioles, so Hailey’s hand has the team logo on the back. Before throwing out the first pitch, she got Manny Machado, her favorite player, to sign it.

A special signature on Hailey's Flexy Hand 2. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/9hkRpjGyTY

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 17, 2015

The design files for Hailey’s hand are available for free online, allowing anyone with a 3D printer to build a similar device at low cost. 

- Dan Gartland