Students use 3-D printer to build prosthetic arm for boy

SCITUATE, R.I. – A group of engineering students has given a 9-year-old Rhode Island boy a special Christmas gift: a prosthetic arm.

Scituate High School students presented Ollie Mancini Thursday with a prosthetic arm that they created using a 3-D printer. Ollie was born without the lower part of his left arm.

After putting on the purple prosthetic, Ollie celebrated by giving hugs, shaking hands and throwing his arms in the air.

His mother, Nicole Mancini, is a teacher at the middle school in Scituate. She heard of others using 3-D printers to build prosthetics and approached the high school with the idea. The school hopes to be able to make another arm for Ollie as he grows.

Nicole Mancini says the students have given her son “the gift of the independence.”