MickEbeling

I don't have to do anything for a Klondike bar. I print my own.

Money was definitely an issue. It's expensive enough just to to get humans to the Nuba mountains, then factor in buying and transporting and things added up quickly. We had to buy the printers, buy the filament for the printers, the tools to assemble the arms, the hardware for the arms, the plastic for the arms… etc. We knew that after we left there was not going to be an easy way for us to restock the raw supplies the hospital needed, so we had to buy enough supplies to last for a while. Lucky for us we got Precipart and Intel to underwrite the project so we could just focus on doing the work. Very grateful for that.

1. 3D printed limbs are available now, but you have to make them yourself or find someone to make them for you. I don't know of any commercially available 3D prosthetics limbs at this time.
2. It seems like prosthetics are coming down in price, but we always say that "normal" hospital prosthetics are usually $10-15K USD and higher. The prosthetics we made in the Nuba mountains we estimate costing about $100, not including the man hours and cost of the printer.
3. I don't do lower limb prosthetics.

I speak with Dr. Tom and some of the team from the Nuba mountains about every other week or so just to check in on them. Its not really possible for me to stay in touch with the people we made the prosthetics for because where they live there is no electricity, no internet and the people don't have access to computers or mobile phones. ... and then there is that issue of me not speaking arabic! ha!

The biggest culture shock I experienced was the 2nd day I arrived back in LA. It was Thanksgiving so I was surrounded by a loving family, a lawful state, people not bombing each other, copious amounts of food, and general safety. It was shocking to be in what was to me, just 30 days prior, a "normal" situation that seemed so ridiculously bountiful compared to where I was a few days prior. That was the "re-entry shock" I experienced.