Bill Text: VA HJR954 | 2019 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Sue Ranson.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-2)
Status: (Passed) 2019-02-21 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ954ER) [HJR954 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HJR954-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Kurt O'Connor, a teacher at Park View High School in Sterling, used innovative 3-D printing technology to help create a prosthetic hand for the six-year-old brother of one of his students; 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, a student at Park View High School, approached Kurt O'Connor about using the school's newly acquired 3-D printer to create a prosthetic hand; and
WHEREAS, Kurt O'Connor and Gabriel Filippini 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, Kurt O'Connor and Gabriel Filippini 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 Kurt O'Connor and Gabriel Filippini 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 Kurt O'Connor for his work to provide a prosthetic hand for a local child in need; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Kurt O'Connor as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for his life-changing use of technology.
