🥁 No hands? No problem

Twelve-year-old Aubrey Sauvie is a go-getter. The triple congenital amputee has never let her limb differences stop her from accomplishing anything she put her mind to. 

Not content with being a black belt in taekwondo, Aubrey also loves attending dance, music, and arts classes. Her most recent venture? Drumming😎.

Background: Aubrey was born without either of her hands, and only a partial left foot. While her parents worried during the pregnancy that she would struggle through life, Aubrey has proved over and over again that she can conquer anything that comes her way. 

• The preteen started drumming this past school year, inspired by her older sister who is also a percussionist.
• Aubrey had to get creative with the drumsticks when she first started learning the drums, holding them in the crevices of her elbows to play. They would often fall out or slide backwards depending on how hard she was played. 

That is, until Texas Tech engineering students came along and designed Aubrey a custom pair of prosthetics this past semester as part of a dynamics of machinery class👇.

The prosthetics allow Aubrey to snap in her drumsticks, so she can play as hard and intricately as she wants while keeping them stable. And, while the prosthetics were made with drumming in mind, "if you [theoretically] wanted to hold kayak oars or whatever, you could just print out different tips to put on this same base (of) prosthetics. It’s pretty cool,” her mother explained.

• The new prosthetics have made a "world of difference" for Aubrey, who worked with the Texas Tech students all semester to help perfect the design. 
• The team of engineering students made a total of six prototypes before settling on the final product.

💬 What she's saying: “I was really excited that I was going to be able to use these and try them out,” said Aubrey, who wants to be an ultrasound technician when she’s older. She added: “They are becoming a very useful and resourceful tool to help me with my drumming.”