Just before Thanksgiving of 2013, the Not Impossible team returned home from Sudan’s Nuba Mountains after setting up what was the world’s first 3D-printing prosthetic lab and training facility. The project was produced by the NoA’s Elliot Kotek as the co-founder and content chief of Not Impossible.
As the inspiration for the journey, the Not Impossible team managed to give hope and independence back to Daniel Omar who, at age 14, had both his arms blown off by a bomb dropped on his village. It took his arms, and his sense of self-worth.
Just prior to the trip, the now 16-year-old Daniel was found in Yida, a 70,000 person refugee camp.
Despite the hostile political and geographic conditions, on November 11th 2013 Daniel received version 1 of his left arm. The “Daniel Arm” enabled him to feed himself for the first time in two years.
After Daniel had been fitted with his prosthetic, and with the help of Dr. Tom Catena (an American doctor and the sole physician left working in the Nuba Mountains), Mick Ebeling and the team set about teaching local clinicians and villagers to assemble 3-D prostheses.
By the time the team returned to their homes in the U.S., the local trainees had successfully printed and fitted another two arms on their own.
Project Daniel was one of the most significant innovation projects of 2013-2014. Supported by Precipart and Intel, the project garnered more than 1 billion media impressions and earning a wealth of accolades internationally. The project’s success is indicative that even small teams of people can have a significant impact – and that by solving a problem for just one person, many can be helped – “Help One. Help Many.”