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Engineers Design Device for Boy Born With No Arms

12:54 AM, Dec 10, 2011   |    comments
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Lexington County, SC (WLTX) - The next time you get dressed, try and do it by only using your feet. It's a challenge 11-year-old Travis Cunningham lives with every day.

Travis is not like other kids his age, and he'll tell you he likes it like that.

"Because there isn't many people that can do this," said Travis. He was born with a medical condition called Amelia.

"I was born without arms," said Travis, playing Nintendo Wii with his feet. With no arms, he's had to resort to using his those feet, which could be the most talented in Lexington County.

Not only can he play video games, but he also loves to draw and paint. His mom Angela admits with all the talents have comes many challenges.

"In some ways, it was kind of like having a baby as far as having to dress himself and stuff like that," said Angela.

But thanks to the help of the nonprofit group Enabletech and University of South Carolina mechanical engineers, it's now "game over" for some of those challenges. Chris, A USC engineer student, shows off the device.

"This is the device we've designed for Travis," Chris said.

This device slides over a door knob and hooks onto his pants, helping Travis pull them up. Another design acts as a hook that he can pick up with his feet. Travis can now put on a shirt without any help from mom.

"Like this morning, he got himself totally dressed for school. It's fantastic, and he's only had that device for a couple of weeks," said Angela.

Ed Keelen, an engineer at Enabletech that helped push the design along.

"We wanted to keep it simple," said Keelen. "It's all free. It's free to the client. We get donations and equipment donations as apart of our service."

Just ask Travis if he likes it.

"It's awesome."

It's a collaboration helping to give Travis the independence he needs. Just don't try and play him in Nintendo Wii. You will lose.

If you would like to volunteer with Enabletech or find out more about their projects, visit their website at: http://www.enabletech.org/