BARCELONA-- A teenager in Spain has built a robotic prosthetic arm using LEGO bricks after being born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition.
19-year-old David Aguilar, who studies bioengineering in college, is already using his fourth model of the colorful prosthetic.
Once his favorite toys, the plastic bricks became the building material for Aguilar's first, still very rudimentary, artificial arm at the age of nine, and each new version had more movement capability than the one before.
"As a child I was like very nervous to be in front of other guys, because I was different, but that didn't stop me believing in my dreams and I wanted to do what I was thinking about and... it was seeing myself in front of the mirror like I see other guys with two hands. So at the age of 18, last year, I built this prosthetic," he said.
After graduating from college, he wants to create affordable prosthetic solutions for people who need them. "My main dream is to finish my university, that's first, and then I would like to go somewhere creating prosthetics for people that can't afford a real prosthetic."
Aguilar uses the artificial arm only occasionally and is self-sufficient without it.