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'I Feel Like I Just Got An Upgrade:' Staten Island Boy Born Missing Part Of Right Arm Gifted With 3-D Printed Prostheses

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Staten Island third grader is finally able to shake hands thanks to his new prosthetic arm made entirely with a 3-D printer.

The expression on 9-year-old Jeremy Seacott's face said it all, and just a few weeks after getting his first prosthetic arm he's mastering the little things like picking something up off a table, or even shaking someone's hand.

"Just doing things that we take for granted I think was really cool," mom Janet told CBS2.

Jeremy was born missing part of his right arm. While he has no trouble showing off his favorite dance moves without it, he says the new addition has made life a little better.

"I feel like I just got an upgrade," Janet says that upgrade came courtesy of Michael Perina. He owns Assembyl 3-D Printing on Staten Island and partnered with e-Nable, an organization which connects volunteers using 3-D printers with people who need prostheses and provides the blueprints for making them.

"It's my favorite project that I've ever done," Perina said.

Printing out all of the parts for Jeremy's new arm took about 20 hours. The third grader ended up with not one but two of them, one of which was custom painted to match his skin tone. The other is modeled after his favorite Transformers character -- Optimus Prime.

The prostheses were provided free of charge, and Perina says more will soon be in the works.

"It's wonderful that he has such an amazing heart and is able to do this and able to help other people," Janet said.

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