inMotion Magazine

July | August 2018 22 answers to her concerns in a timely manner. This went on for about a year. Shelby expects her shoulder-driven device to arrive this summer. “He’s a busy guy and super generous,” Shelby says. “I’m a complete stranger and here he is super stoked about getting me my arm.” Shelby’s arm is a version of Nate’s original, called the NI-OP (No Insurance Optimized Prosthesis), which is in its fifth development stage. It will include springs for each finger, a grip selector knob to change the cable pull patterns, and a rotating thumb. If all goes to plan, Nate will use e-NABLE (enablingthefuture.org ), a global network of volunteer 3D-printed prosthesis makers, and Thingiverse.com , an open source platform, to share his designs, free for download. If a client wants an assembled model, Nate could print, build and ship for a low fee. He hopes to expand his basement factory with two more printers, enabling him, he estimates, to make a hand in one day and an arm in three. “I do the best I can with what I have left,” Nate explains. “So now I do things all the time that other people give me great credit for, but to be honest, I’m just being the new me … The things I do now are greater than anything I was capable of before, but there is only joy in what I can do for others.” To amplify his reach, Nate intends to create a YouTube channel featuring him on guitar using his favorite invention: the “Jammer” prosthesis (a cradle that mounts a guitar pick and straps on with a latex- free tourniquet). Nate can play for hours, singing the blues with a smile.  The things I do now are greater than anything I was capable of before, but there is only joy in what I can do for others. Nate demonstrates the “Jammer” with a cover of Journey’s “Who’s Cryin’ Now.”