This 18-Year-Old Built His Own Prosthetic Arm Using Lego

Like most young kids, David Aguilar loved playing with Lego pieces. He constantly found himself building bigger and better gadgets and toys. However, Aguilar’s situation was different than other kids. He was born with a deformed arm.

“Growing up it was quite annoying because I received a lot of comments like, ‘Oh you don’t have a hand’ or something like that,” Aguilar said.

But rather than get a standard prosthetic arm, Aguilar decided to use his years of Lego building and build his own prosthetic. The 18-year-old student from Andorra goes by the name of “Hand Solo” and doesn’t let his deformed arm stop him from doing, building, and exploring what he loves most.

“I built my first prosthetic arm when I was 9 years old, and I build it around my hand. It started being a boat,” Aguilar said.

The first iteration of the prosthetic couldn’t withstand the pressure put on it, and it wouldn’t be for another 9 years that Aguilar would have the tools to build a proper Lego arm. Thanks to the Lego Technic line (or the “sophisticated part of Lego” as Aguilar calls it) Aguilar’s prosthetic can now handle a lot more wear and tear. Aguilar can even use it to do push ups. He built his first MK1 model in just 5 days.

His second model — the MK2 — even includes a bicep battery and the ability to retract the arm back up with ease.