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2017 SESSION

17105214D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 958
Offered February 14, 2017
Commending Gabriel Filippini.
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Patrons-- Boysko and Bell, John J.
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WHEREAS, Gabriel Filippini, a student at Park View High School in Sterling, used innovative 3-D printing technology to help create a prosthetic hand for his six-year-old brother; and

WHEREAS, Lucas Filippini was born with an underdeveloped left hand, making it difficult for him to master everyday tasks, such as tying his shoelaces, zipping up a jacket, and holding items with both hands; and

WHEREAS, with his younger brother on a waitlist for a prosthesis, Gabriel Filippini approached Kurt O’Connor, one of his teachers at Park View High School, about using the school’s newly acquired 3-D printer to create a prosthetic hand; and

WHEREAS, Gabriel Filippini and Kurt O’Connor collaborated with Enabling the Future, which provides open-source designs for 3-D printed prosthetic limbs, and Makersmiths, a nonprofit organization in Leesburg that provided knuckle joints, to develop the prosthetic hand; and

WHEREAS, Gabriel Filippini and Kurt O’Connor provided Lucas Filippini with his new prosthetic hand on his birthday on June 17, 2016; since receiving the hand, Lucas has achieved motor skills that many other children take for granted and continues to overcome challenges; and

WHEREAS, Lucas Filippini’s achievements are an inspiration to the members of the Loudoun County community, and Gabriel Filippini and Kurt O’Connor have begun to create larger hands to ensure that Lucas maintains his mobility as he grows; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Gabriel Filippini for his work to provide a prosthetic hand for his brother; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Gabriel Filippini as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for his life-changing use of technology.