9-year-old born without a hand gets ‘Frozen’-themed prosthetic

Thanks to a 3D printer and students at Siena College in upstate New York, 9-year-old Karissa Mitchell has one of the coolest prosthetics around.

Mitchell was born without her right hand and most of her wrist, but recently received a very special prosthetic arm modeled after her favorite movie: Frozen.

According to the college, the Frozen-themed prosthetic was designed, assembled and 3D printed by members of the student-run Siena e-NABLE.

If the group sounds familiar, you may recall their first project -- an Iron Man-themed prosthetic hand designed by animator and mechanical designer, Pat Starace.

The college explained that "Karissa’s mother Maria learned of the story and reached out to see if Siena e-NABLE could help her daughter as well."

When Karissa and her family met the students at e-NABLE, "they were so nice and it was a great fit,” physics major Alyx Gleason and e-NABLE member said. “Karissa’s face lit up when we showed her a test hand. She is a very deserving girl.”

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The team spent "dozens of hours" creating and designing the prosthetic and was sure to incorporate key elements of Mitchell's favorite movie, Frozen. The ice-blue arm even has a removable Olaf light. How cool is that?

“Karissa really identifies with Elsa because she knows what it's like to be different from everyone else,” her mother told the college. “She doesn’t want to be seen as different, which has made her extremely determined to do things as well, if not better, than others.” 

To see Mitchell try out her new Frozen prosthetic check out the video below:

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