SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Max may look like most 5-year-olds, but a rare illness left him paralyzed from the shoulder to his wrist.
Bending his arm on his own is impossible — until he puts on a new device designed to help him move.
University of California, San Diego, engineering students Ethan and Marcos Serrano developed these "Iron Kid" arms over the last ten weeks after max's doctor at Rady Children's Hospital enlisted their help.
Today is the first time Max and his family will be able to take the arms home.
Dad, Ted Ng, says he and his wife have been in awe of this whole process.
"It's been really touching to have this come together," Ng said. "There's all kinds of robotic arms out there but none of them would really work for his condition."
Grateful to see their son gain back some of his mobility.
"It was kinda of like a miracle cause I didn't know how well it would work on him cause because as a child his limbs have a very specific shape," Ng added.
And do more of the stuff 5-year-olds do, like pick stuff up, eat his favorite foods, or just play with his dad.
"It's really up to him to figure out how he wants to use this thing," Ng said.
