Five-year-old throws first pitch at Orioles game with her amazing robotic hand

Hailey Dawson stood a few feet in front of her favorite baseball player, Manny Machado, and underhanded the ceremonial first pitch in his direction before Monday’s Baltimore Orioles game. It took a hop before reaching Machado, but that’s OK in this instance, because this was no ordinary first pitch and Dawson is no ordinary girl.

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Dawson was wearing what she calls her “special hand,” a robotic prosthesis designed for the 5-year-old by engineers at UNLV then brought to life using a 3-D printer. It’s officially called the Flexy-Hand 2 and modified to fit Hailey. She has a rare condition called Poland Syndrome, which affected the growth of her right hand. She has a pinky, thumb and palm — but no fingers. Not ordinary fingers, anyway. Her family calls hers “nubbins.”

(USA Today) With her special prosthesis, though, she’s able to hold and throw a ball, collect candy on Halloween and lots more. The entire creation of her hand — initiated by Hailey’s mom and led by two faculty members at UNLV with the help of four students — has been documented in detail by UNLV, so read that if you’re interested in the engineering side of this story.

So how did a 5-year-old from the Las Vegas area end up throwing out the first pitch in Baltimore? Good question. Her dad, Gregory Dawson, is from Maryland and raised both Hailey and her older brother to be Orioles fans. Hailey threw out a first pitch at a UNLV baseball game, but wanted to try the big leagues. So Hailey’s mom, Yong, reached out to the Orioles to link her daughter with the baseball team the family loves. The O’s agreed without any fuss.

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When things were set into motion, the UNLV engineers created a special Orioles version of Hailey’s robohand that she wore Monday and ended up getting signed by Machado, Adam Jones and Chris Davis.

This wasn’t just about giving Hailey a memorable experience, Yong Dawson told MLB.com, but also spreading the word about what had been created to help her daughter and how it might help others:

“Ultimately, the goal is not just to have her dream come true, but to expose the hand and that people can get this hand. And it’s available to anybody,” said Hailey’s mom, Yong. “It’s so easy, so cheap — especially for someone who is a kid, their arms are going, their hands are going. … I just wanted it to be out there, that, ‘Hey, you can get this.'”

She’s right. While a typical prosthetic hand can cost thousands of dollars and quickly become too small as kids grow, one like Hailey’s can be downloaded and created using a 3-D printer. It’s a lot easier if you have a team of engineers at a university helping out, of course, but it’s a great alternative nonetheless.

And, who knows, a robohand might lead to another kid meeting his/her favorite baseball player too.

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