3D printing is allowing people to make great strides in prosthetics and develop them for much lower costs. That would be enough to make anyone in need of an arm happy, but having said arm done up to look like Iron Man's metallic gauntlet and then have Iron Man himself deliver it? That's priceless.
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One lucky little boy named Alex got just that. Not only was he surprised with a brand new arm modeled after his favorite hero, but that same hero presented it to him.
Robert Downy Jr, the actor who plays Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) met the child in a hotel where he donned his own Iron Man arm to compare the workmanship. The kid got a better a deal, as it turns out.
Downy didn't appear as himself, he actually donned his Tony Stark outfit and persona (which can be argued to just be himself) and presented the child with the new arm in Stark Industry containers. Very cool.
The arm was part of #Collective Project and crafted by Albert Manero, a student who founder Limbitless, a nonprofit dedicated to using 3D printing to craft prosthetic arms using 3D printing and cutting edge technology.
Although, they do not always have a real superhero on hand to help out with their unveiling and giving of new limbs, it was a wonderful surprise for the young boy even if like most children, he seemed completely underwhelmed with the fact that freaking Iron Man was standing next to him.
Kids these days. You can watch the whole exchange below.