8-Year-Old Baseball Fan Aims to Throw First Pitch at Every MLB Stadium in America With a Robotic Hand
Eight-year-old Hailey Dawson's mission to throw the first pitch at all Major League Baseball stadium in the US continues, thanks to her robotic hands.
Hailey, born with a rare disorder called the Poland Syndrome that caused her to have missing or underdeveloped muscles on her right hand, is well on her way to fulfill her goal of throwing a ceremonial pitch in all the 30 major baseball stadiums in the country.
Just this Monday, the young baseball fan threw the first pitch at the PNC Park during the game between the Pittsburg Pirates and the Washington Nationals. Then, she will head over to the Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts to pitch before the match between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays using her robotic hand that was created using a 3D printer.
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She is also scheduled to pitch at the Chase Field, SunTrust Park, Dodgers Stadium, and Rogers Centre in the coming days.
Speaking with Daily Mail, Hailey's mother Yong Dawson said that she never let her condition get in her way of reaching her goal.
"This kid owns it," Yong stated. "Her hand – she owns it. It does not define who she is," she added.
Since a traditional custom prosthetic hand could cost over $25,000, Yong and her husband Greg contacted the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Hughes College of Engineering to help them come up with a functional hand that could help Hailey grasp and reach for stuff but will not have to cost that much. The engineers from UNLV came up with a design and made it using a 3D printer.
Hailey will continue with her mission to raise more awareness about Poland Syndrome and ways for patients to get their own robotic hands.
"We get to talk about this robotic hand, because it's easily accessible for kids or anyone who needs it," Yong told Pittsburgh's Action News. "You just have to ask for one," she went on to say.
