3-year-old boy gets 3D printed 'Iron Man' hand at no cost

Three-year old Rayden Kahae is a happy and loving child, but the boy they call “Bubba” has always been different from the rest of the neighborhood kids in Wailuku, Hawaii.

“Bubba was born with ABS, which is Amniotic Band Syndrome,” Rulan Waikiki, Rayden’s grandmother told KHON. “It’s where the baby’s hands end up without some fingers, some with none, couple little stumps instead of fingers.”

But it was life as he knew it. And while he thrived, he too knew he was different.

“He knew from earlier on, when he could notice that his sister had two hands and he didn’t, that he always said he doesn’t like that hand.”



Several months ago, Rulan Waikiki discovered an exciting option for her grandson on the Internet with a group called E-Nable.

It was a life-changing discovery.

For years, patients spent up to $40,000 for a commercially made prosthetic hand — but thanks to 3-D printing technology, a mechanical body-powered hand now costs only $50 to build, according to KHON.

“He wanted an Iron-Man hand,” Waikiki told the station, referring to the popular comic-book superhero portrayed onscreen by Robert Downey Jr.

Last week, Rayden’s Iron-Man hand arrived in the mail. The boy’s father captured the moment on camera.