Darth Vader, Stormtroopers Deliver Boy's Bionic Arm

ORLANDO, FL — Not many 9-year-olds can say they’ve been personally called out by Darth Vader himself, but Alvin Garcia Flores can.

The little boy from Omaha, Neb., recently came face-to-face with the Empire’s most feared leader and a detachment of Stormtroopers at his school. The special guests didn’t pay a visit to Gateway Elementary to recruit Flores to the dark side though. They were there to present the youngster with a very special bionic arm made just for him courtesy of the University of Central Florida’s Limbitless Solutions.

Flores was born with a right arm that ends at the elbow. When Limbitless Solutions learned the little “Star Wars” fan was in need of a new robotic arm the folks behind the nonprofit dove in to help, crafting him a very special 3D-printed Stormtrooper design. When the arm was completed, the folks at Limbitless Solutions ran into a snag and were unable to present it in person. Since Alvin is so special, the people at the nonprofit wanted the delivery to be special, too.

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They turned to the 501st Legion, a “Star Wars” reenactment group, to help. Members of the group’s Central Garrison gladly obliged. During an assembly at school, Darth Vader called Alvin out of the crowd.

“Bring forth the one,” he instructed, presenting the boy a box. Inside that box was Alvin’s brand new arm. The child wasted no time in attaching his new arm and also gave his special guests a tour of his school.

“Limbitless Solutions is devoted to making bionics available to families at no cost,” executive director Albert Manero told Patch. “Seeing Alvin’s excitement is our team’s favorite part, and we are thankful that the 501st Legion would help make the delivery so incredible.”

The UCF venture began when Manero, an engineering doctoral student, listened to a story about one of the inventors of a 3D printed hand. Inspired, Manero became involved with E-Nable, another nonprofit dedicated to helping connect people with 3D printers to those in need of the technology to create affordable artificial limbs.

Before long, Manero heard about a little boy named Alex Pring and how he endured teasing because of his underdeveloped arm. Manero set out to create a robotic replacement for the boy and was able to deliver the first model free of charge shortly thereafter.

Alex’s initial bionic arm was a first for the UCF students and it’s been followed by several other success stories. Alex even received an upgrade last March when Robert Downey Jr. delivered him his own Iron Man arm. Each limb created by the UCF students takes up to 50 hours to create and costs about $350. Funding for the limbs is offset by donations made to Limbitless Solutions.

To learn more about Limbitless Solutions or make a donation, visit the nonprofit online.

Photo courtesy of Limbitless Solutions and the 501st Legion