Community Corner
Girl, 8, With Prosthetic Hand Throws First Pitch At Dodgers Game
Eight-year-old Hailey Dawson is seeking to throw a first pitch at all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums with the help of a prosthetic hand.
LOS ANGELES, CA — An 8-year-old girl who uses a prosthetic hand made with a 3D printer threw the ceremonial first pitch Monday evening before the Los Angeles Dodgers-Milwaukee Brewers game at Dodger Stadium.
Hailey Dawson of Las Vegas threw underhanded to Dodger pitching star Clayton Kershaw. Hailey had a blue prosthetic hand with the team's LA logo. Dodger first baseman Cody Bellinger autographed the hand before the pitch.
Hailey was born with an underdeveloped pectoral muscle and missing or underdeveloped digits on her right hand because of a rare birth defect, Poland syndrome.
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Her parents contacted UNLV's Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering for help. Over the past three years, students and faculty have designed multiple 3D-printed hands which have enabled Hailey to grab, grasp and throw a baseball.
Hailey, who is seeking to throw a first pitch at all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums this season, has done so at 24 MLB stadiums so far. She is scheduled to complete her tour of all 30 stadiums on Sept. 16 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
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The youngster also threw first pitches at several MLB stadiums last season, including Houston's Minute Maid Park, where she threw the first pitch before Game 4 of the World Series, which was won by the Dodgers, 6-2.
City News Service; Photo: Hailey Dawson, 8, throws out the ceremonical first pitch wearing a 3D-printed robotic hand before the MLB game between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on July 21, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
