e-NABLE Volunteers Going Above And Beyond • Agent “Cyborg”

Meet “Agent Cyborg.” We can not tell you his age or location for fear that this information may fall into the wrong hands and compromise his secret mission.

What we can tell you is that he is the recipient of one of our e-NABLE hands after his parents saw an article online about our volunteer Aaron Brown who created a Wolverine Hand design and after initially appearing to be uninterested in trying one, “Agent Cyborg” asked his parents about it.

His Mom writes: “We were sitting on the couch and he started talking about his hand (something he hardly ever does! He just likes to ignore the fact that it’s different most of the time.) He said he thought a robotic hand would be super cool. So I pulled up the Wolverine article and his eyes lit up! He asked for one for Christmas and couldnt believe that someone would actually make one for him…he always thinks that nothing good ever happens to him because he got “stuck with the little hand” and his brother has “two normal hands.” We contacted e-NABLE and he was matched up with someone to build him a hand. 

We made the decision to try a helper hand because we wanted to improve his self esteem. He hates his hand. He hates being different. We just wanted him to feel special like the kid we know he is.”

Little did they know – they actually ended up getting matched with the same man who created the Wolverine design – Aaron Brown – and someone that took it upon himself to go above and beyond simply printing, assembling and shipping a hand to a young man in need of assistance.

Every story we share about another child receiving a new hand because of an e-NABLE volunteer is always something wonderful to read…but today we want to share a beautiful story of a perfect stranger going out of his way for a child hundreds of miles away – to not only gift him with some new 3D printed fingers – but to do his best to make sure that this young man felt special and unique for the first time in his life – instead of “cursed.”

When Aaron found out that “Agent Cyborg” was worried about seeing the Occupational Therapist at his school for fear of people thinking there was “Something wrong with him,” – Aaron decided that he was going to turn this into something more than just the usual volunteer opportunity – he turned it into a very personal and meaningful moment for everyone involved.

He turned it into a “Secret Mission.”

He went out and purchased a special “spy case” to place the hand into, printed out some “Top Secret” and “Confidential” stickers for the outside of the case and even went as far as creating a document to welcome “Agent Cyborg” into the “League of E-NABLE Heroes” to encourage him to visit the “undercover agent” who would help him learn how to use his new hand.

It reads:

“Welcome to the Elite Group of E-nable Heroes.

The device included in this package is the first of many classified prototypes you will receive for real life testing. If you find any size or damage issues, please report back to me directly for a new and improved hand to be sent to you.

Please be aware..we have an undercover agent in your city assigned to your case. Her codename is Agent “Carlberg.”

Once you feel you are ready for further “advanced” training with your new hand, please report to Agent Calrberg. She has been briefed and will provide the needed training to advance you to newer robotic hands in the future.

Again, I welcome you to the “League of E-nable Heroes.

I look forward to reading your mission reports.

– The Maker.”

“Agent Cyborg’s” mom tells us that “Agent Carlberg” has been watching from a distance and continues to keep her identity a secret from him and his friends at school but has sent agent training exercises to his parents for him to work on at home.

Recently “Agent Cyborg” reported that the kids in his class were really excited and surprised by his new hand and some of them even wanted one of their own.

Once again, our wonderful global volunteer community has created not only a hand for a child in need – but has gifted him with something even bigger – showing him that there are people in the world…perfect strangers…who care about him, want him to feel as special and amazing he really is and will do whatever they can to make it so and giving him something that helps him feel like the coolest kid on the planet. You really can’t put a price on that.

“Agent Cyborg” has a secret message for his maker:

.yug emosewa na era uoY !uoy knahT

Want to help?
Need a hand?
Please email us at letsgetstarted@enablingthefuture.org