MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — Twelve-year-old Aubrey Sauvy never stopped chasing her dreams.
She dances competitively, has a black belt in Taekwondo and played drums in her middle school band – and she does it all without using her hands.
“It's just a part of me,” Aubrey Sauvy says, “It doesn't make me who I am.”
“She's so sweet and caring,” explains Aubrey's mother, Jennifer Sauvy, “and so creative.”
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Like any 12-year-old, she says she loves makeup, art, dance and music. The only difference is that she does it all without her hands. Aubrey was born a triple amputee, meaning she had no limbs below the elbows and no toes on one foot. While her classmates might have finished their assignments faster, Aubrey wasn't going to let anything get in the way of completing the same tasks.
“It was definitely a learning curve, but over time it got easier and easier until it wasn't difficult at all,” Aubrey explains.
“She was using a spoon and putting the soup on the spoon and flipping it over,” Jennifer explained. “I thought, 'Oh, if she can do that, she can do anything.'”
From a young age, Aubrey has tried her hand at just about everything: cooking, competitive dancing, taekwondo, makeup and currently plays drums in her middle school band.
But like many kids, she experienced bullying on social media on a whole other level.
“A lot of the kids that did it didn't know my name or anything,” Aubrey explained, “so they were just like, 'Oh, she doesn't have hands.'
“We took a little break [social media] “I got really overwhelmed and my grades started to slip,” Aubrey said, “so I took a break from social media and got my grades back on track.”
Aubrey said support from family and friends helped her get through the cruel comments and posts.
“People will ignore anything you say, so you have to learn to ignore them,” Aubrey says, “and remember that it probably means there's something going on inside of them, and that's why they want to take their anger or upset out on you.”
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From overcoming bullying to playing drums with drumsticks in the creases of her elbows, Aubrey hasn't let anything get in the way of pursuing her dreams — the only obstacle was not finding the position or solid sound she wanted.
“It was a little difficult because the stick starts to slip,” Aubrey said.
Aubrey's middle school band teacher recommended her as a candidate for Tennessee Tech's Tech Engineering for Kids program, and that's when 10 Tennessee Tech students who were participating in the program came forward and began making plans to provide Aubrey with a 3D prosthetic specifically for drumming.
“So she plays drums, does she play mallets?” Tennessee Tech mechanical engineering student Zachary Henson recalled thinking. “Is she going to play a xylophone? Something like that. I mean, does the handle need to be different? How do you make it stick securely in your hand? All of these questions we're pondering.”
After three to four weeks of planning, the 10 students decided to use a 3D printer to create the prosthetic limbs.
“They said, 'No, no, we're going to 3-D print the final product,'” says Steven Canfield, a professor of mechanical engineering at Tennessee Tech University. “That's when I said the infamous line: 'There's a one in a million chance that it's going to work.' But I said, 'Well, give it a try.'”
The students worked with Aubrey throughout the semester on measurements and understanding preferences before returning to the lab for research and development.
“I was with a relative,” explains Micah Page, a junior mechanical engineering student at Tennessee Tech University, “so I actually went and met her and measured her and saw if it would work for her.”
Students had to wait hours for the 3D printer to print the finished rough version.
“Initially, it was up to me to figure out if this product would actually work,” said Branson Blaylock, a mechanical engineering student at Tennessee Tech University. “So I took a bold venture in the dark to just say, ‘Here goes.’ [..] Basically, it should work with rubber. So my team was counting on me because sometimes the rubber doesn't work and we have to go back to square one.”
“There were a lot of drafts,” Page says, “but I'm glad we got it exactly how she wanted it.”
“We just sat there and were like, wow, we accomplished this,” Blaylock said.
The final product was durable yet flexible enough to accommodate drumsticks on both arms.
“Her sound quality was much better,” Page says, “and we designed the 'wrist' of her arm to be flexible, so she could produce a paradiddle-like sound.”
“I saw it on her wrist and it was just amazing,” Henson said. “Ultimately, I wanted to use my mechanical engineering knowledge to help someone.”
Aubrey told News 2 the product gave her the sound she wanted and more.
“I expected to continue this. [drumming]Aubrey said, “I'm their [the students’] future. “
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“They were very enthusiastic and determined to make it work,” Aubrey recalls, “and they built something that will last for a while, so I'm grateful for that.”
Aubrey said that now that he can grip the sticks properly, he plans to play a full set of drums with his new prosthetics in the near future.
Meanwhile, in the fall, the Tech Engineering for Kids program will serve 12-15 children and their families with needs similar to Aubrey's.
