A 15 year old Texan created a prosthetic for a classmate so she can play in the marching band.
All Tabetha Noel-Ratcliff wanted to do was play in the marching band.
The 15-year-old High School freshman has practiced the French horn for years and was eager to switch to the mellophone, a similar instrument musicians prefer for marching. But her right hand wasn’t quite up to the task.
Tabetha was born with symbrachydactyly, which means she has full control over her right arm, but her hand and fingers aren’t completely developed. Among other things, the condition makes managing an instrument while moving extremely difficult. “It’s a little more bumps, up and down,” she said. “Makes it harder to play, and also it’s just harder to balance.”
Her band director noticed her struggle and appealed to the school’s STEM-focused robotics teacher, who knew the perfect student to reach out to. Clark Strong, who had never met Tabetha, has been involved in 3-D printing ever since his grandfather introduced him to it years ago. The 16-year-old quickly agreed to take on the project without receiving class credit for it.
Clark studied the way Tabetha played and designed a prosthetic to help her balance her instrument. He then used the 3-D printer he has at home to produce the hard plastic device.
Tabetha now uses the tool whenever she plays, and she’s thrilled that she can finally pursue her passion. She said — “If there weren’t people that did stuff out of the kindness of their heart, I wouldn’t have a prosthetic, I wouldn’t be doing as good in band.”