SPRINGDALE (KFSM) -- A little girl who had a unique challenge riding her bike will now be able to ride without training wheels, thanks to some innovative thinking by some savvy Springdale students.
Gracie Marvin, 7, was born without her right hand, but her mom said that hasn't stopped her.
“She's a special little girl for sure, she doesn't think of herself as being different from anyone else. She can really do anything, it's pretty amazing,” Julie Marvin said.
Gracie loves to ride her bike, but it's difficult for her to balance without training wheels. Tuesday (Jan. 23), she got the answer, a prosthetic that attaches onto her bike.
Gracie's cousin Leah is in the fifth grade at Shaw Elementary and it was Leah’s project to make a bike adaptation for Gracie’s bike, so she partnered with the EAST program at the School of Innovation.
“I wanted her to have the same experience that everyone else has, so she could ride her bike without training wheels. So, I decided to bring this to my school and to help her by designing an arm,” Leah Marvin said.
Ninth grader Steicy Lopez is also in the program, but at the Don Tyson School of Innovation. She said after brainstorming and measuring. they realized making this was possible.
She said she's proud of her work and the relationship the schools have built.
“In the past years I've worked on some prosthetic demo hands, I've 3D printed some stuff, but nothing that's actually specific to a person and nothing that's actually going to impact someone so much,” Lopez said.
The EAST students plan on making a few modifications to the design of the prosthetic to make it sturdier. They also plan on making a few spare ones in different colors for Gracie.
The money made from the coffee shop inside the School of Innovation was used to buy the bike and helmet presented to Gracie.