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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 

Project Daniel: Prosthetics for Kids in Sudan by A Beautiful World

MPR News Programs and Podcasts

A Beautiful World®

Heather McElhatton

Author

Project Daniel uses 3-D printers to create prosthetic arms for youth in Sudan's Nuba Mountains. The effort is the brainchild of Mick Ebeling.

Courtesy of Not Impossible Labs

A Beautiful World Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-beautiful-world/id986469943?mt=2

When Mick Ebeling heard about a 14-yr-old boy named Daniel living in a refugee camp in Sudan, who had lost both his arms during a raid, he decided he had to do something, despite having no medical training whatsoever.   So Mick crowdsourced the problem and an inventive design for a new prosthetic arm emerged. Mick flew with his designs and a 3D printer to Sudan's Nuba Mountains, where he set up the first 3D-printing prosthetic lab and training facility in Sudan.   

"A Beautiful World" is a news program produced by American Public Media that focuses on inspirational stories from around the world, featuring good news about science, technology, ecology, art, music and medicine. The program is hosted by best-selling author Heather McElhatton, whom listeners may know from her contributions to This American Life, Marketplace and MPR News. Visit www.prettylittlemistakes.com for more stories and audio collections.

A Beautiful World: Innovation, good will craft prosthetic arms in Sudan

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