High School Students Change New Classmate's Life by Creating, Giving Him Robotic Hand

robotic hand prosthetic hand Hendersonville High School nashville tennessee Sergio Peralta born with unformed right hand online models of prostheses 3D printer engineering

By Jo Anne Hubert , Parent Herald Jan 30, 10:30 am

Photo: (Photo : Getty Images/Tomohiro Ohsumi)

Thanks to his new classmates, a 15-year-old student from Hendersonville High School has finally experienced catching a baseball using his right hand for the first time.

A new kid at Hendersonville High School outside of Nashville, Tennessee, Sergio Peralta, was doubly nervous about fitting in at the school. Aside from being a new student, he was also concerned with one more particular thing - what his new classmates would think of his right hand, which had never fully formed.

According to CBS News, Peralta admitted keeping his right hand a secret. On his first day, he wanted to hide them in his sleeve and wished that nobody would ever get to see and find out.

Yet, he had the surprise of his life when his classmates found out. Instead of responding negatively or harshly, they responded with so much love, acceptance and encouragement when they decided to create for him a robotic hand.

"Living without a hand for 15 years and they actually offered me two is actually pretty cool. No one has ever offered me this stuff. They changed my life. They ended up offering me, like, 'We could build your prosthetic hand,' and I never expected it. Like, never in a million years," Peralta expressed in awe.

From almost everything to doing everything

Peralta shared that as he was growing up, many people would come to him and ask either what was wrong with his hand or what had happened to it. And, since kindergarten, his answer has been the same: he was born with it.

The 15-year-old student said that he has already gotten used to it, so things are not that difficult anymore. He does things using his left hand, including writing. He even said he could do a lot of stuff normal kids with two hands can do. He can do "almost everything," but not everything yet.

Local 12 News stated that the "almost everything" part became the reason for his classmates' mission to create a robotic hand for him.

The teen can still recall how their school's engineering teacher, Jeff Wilkins, told him his classmates might help him with his right hand.

Three of his classmates used their access to online models of prostheses and a 3D printer to draft a plan. In a month, their project came to life, and Peralta finally had his right "robotic" hand.

The hearts behind the hand

Leslie Jaramillo was one of those three students who worked hard to create the prosthetic hand. She shared that the project "captured the spirit" of what they have been taught and what they have learned as creators.

She said that as creators, they should be engineering, coming up with new, unique ideas, solving issues, and making things better. They were able to ultimately practice all of these while creating Peralta's robotic hand.

When he got his robotic hand, one of the things he immediately did was catch a baseball using his right hand. He did that with loud cheers from his classmates and fellow students. He even described them "freaking out" when he caught the ball for the very first time in 15 years with his right robotic hand, People reported.

High school principal Bob Cotter told BBC that students in the school have always been encouraged to turn ideas and concepts "into reality." But more than that, offering a robotic hand to their new classmate is a "testament" that these students not only care about the program that Wilkins built but have also been taught to care for one another.