China, 2025
A 4-year-old boy whose father searched everywhere and found nothing. Then he found e-NABLE. Then he found Laila. This is a custom hand built for a child who had a thumb, so Laila made him a hand without one.
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W.'s father found e-NABLE after months of searching. His son was born with a congenital left hand difference: a thumb, and very short or absent fingers. Doctors had told him there was nothing to do until W. was older, at which point he might be fitted for a myoelectric device. That wasn't good enough.
He had even tried to print a hand himself the year before. He got a printer, downloaded files, and attempted the build, but the sizing defeated him. He couldn't calibrate the scale without knowing how. He kept looking.
The case first came in through e-NABLE in December 2024. It sat with a volunteer who went quiet. W.'s father waited through winter, through Chinese New Year, into spring, sending patient, hopeful messages: "It doesn't matter. We can wait."
In May 2025, Laila took the case over from scratch. Within days, she had new sizing photos and a plan.
The sizing photos W.'s father sent showed the limb clearly: a functional thumb, and an otherwise small hand without full fingers. Laila built the first version of the hand with a standard thumb slot.
When she sent photos of the finished piece, his father messaged back: he had noticed the prosthetic had a thumb, and so did his son. Could the hand be made without one, so W. could use his natural thumb freely?
Laila built a second version with no thumb slot. She called it the Thumbless Kinetic Hand. She sent both.
| Scale | 62.5% |
| Design | Thumbless Kinetic Hand by Laila (custom) |
| Material | Beige PLA+ and TPU |
| Side | Left |
| Versions sent | Two: with thumb and thumbless |
| Shipped | June 3, 2025 |
Standard Kinetic Hand designs include a thumb slot. For recipients who have a partial or functional thumb, that slot can limit natural movement. Laila adapted the design to remove the thumb entirely, allowing W. to use his own thumb alongside the prosthetic fingers.
The modification required rethinking the palm plate geometry and rebalancing the cord tension across four fingers instead of five. The finished piece keeps the same wrist-driven mechanism: W. bends his wrist to close the fingers, and releases to open them.
This modification is now part of Laila's toolkit for future cases where a recipient has a residual thumb.
He had tried to print one himself the year before. He couldn't get the sizing right. That's why he was here.
The Kinetic Hand is built piece by piece: palm, fingers, wrist plate, socket, velcro straps, and tensioner cord threaded through each joint. Every finger connects back to the wrist mechanism. For a 62.5% scale build, the tolerances are tight and the parts are small.
Both versions went into the box together: one with the thumb slot, one without. W.'s father could try both and see what worked. The beige PLA+ gives the hand a skin-toned appearance. The TPU pads at each fingertip add grip. At 62.5% scale, the whole hand fits in a child's palm.
W.'s father messaged as soon as the customs call came: "Received a call from customs today, should receive it soon." The next day, the videos arrived.
W. was in his living room with the beige arm on, picking up a small red ball. He was concentrating hard, eyes down, working out how to make the fingers close. His father sent three videos in a row. Then a message: "The child is very willing to cooperate to wear it. Thank you so much. I am so happy!!"
Laila replied: "He is great at using it." She meant it.
"太高兴了，孩子也很愿意配合去佩戴，非常感谢你，我真的太开心了！！！"
"So happy. The child is very willing to cooperate to wear it. Thank you so much. I am really so happy!!!"
W.'s father, via Instagram, June 12, 2025The photos kept coming over the following weeks. W. using the hand to grip magnetic tiles. W. in the backseat of a car, arm resting on the seat, looking out the window. W. on his bicycle, prosthetic hand on the handlebar, riding through the street outside his building. W. holding a toy car above his head, serious and proud.
His father bought a 3D printer of his own. He asked for the STL files so he could make a new hand as W. grows. Laila sent them in August with full instructions: scale, mirroring for the left hand, everything he needed. "I want to become your student," he wrote. Laila told him to reach out any time he needed help.
He also prepared a gift for Laila. He asked about her address multiple times over several months, wanting to send something. She told him he really didn't have to. He said: "I just want to thank you."
