LI Schoolchildren Make 3D Prosthetic Hand For Indonesian Child

ROCKY POINT, NY —A group of students from Long Island recently gave a gift that will not soon be forgotten by a little boy on the other side of the world.

Six technology education students from Rocky Point High School created a 3D prosthetic hand for Indonesian boy, Anan Suastika, changing his life forever. Teacher John Schumacher said he had seen a post from Suastika's father, I gede Suastika, in an online forum called e-Nable that called for volunteers to make a hand for the six-year-old child, who was born missing fingers on his right hand, News 12 reported.

"I told them, 'Guys, amongst difficulty lies opportunity. This is an opportunity. Let's make a difference for somebody,'" Schumacher told the outlet.

The students, Thomas Anzalone, Brendon Artzt, Jacob Bazata, Gianna Imeidopf, James Prendergast and junior Gavin Donovan, worked with Schumacher on the project and recently joined in a videoconference with Anan and his father.

In the video conference, Anan's father said that before his son received the hand he was ashamed and would hide his hand behind his back.

Anzalone said he was intrigued by the project.

"There's so many parts to it," he told News 12. "I was like this is awesome. I want to fit them all together."

Principal Jonathan Hart credited the students and Schumacher for doing a wonderful job.

“It was so rewarding to watch this video meeting unfold between Mr. Suastika, his son, Anan, and our students as well as Mr. Schumacher," he stated in a news release.

News 12 contributed additional reporting to this story.