What seemed at first to be a spam email ended up being a real $1 million bequest from a professor in the Midwest to a UCF based non-profit, Limbitless Solutions, that provides children with 3D printed limbs for free.
The email was directed to Professor Alain Kassab Ph.D., the head of the prosthetics interfaces cluster at the time. After receiving the email, Kassab looked her up to make sure she was a real person.
“It was certainly not one of those Nigerian plots to get your bank account, it was phrased in a more intelligent manner,” Kassab said.
The donor, Anne Smallwood, is a Drexel University College of Medicine professor who worked on clinical research in the pharmaceutical industry for over 30 years. She was looking to donate to a university that was working on prosthetics for veterans returning from combat, and she emailed several universities that had groups working on prosthetics, but most didn’t answer until she emailed Kassab, according to a UCF press release.
“It was a really strange email because it was someone who was not connected to the university and that heard of Limbitless and wanted to provide a long-term lasting legacy. In our mindset we wanted to reach out right away in hopes that it might be something real,” Limbitless founder Albert Manero said.
Kassab explained to Smallwood the projects that UCF is working on in the development of prosthetics and what Limbitless Solutions was doing to help provide children with prosthetic limbs.
“She got very enthusiastic and supportive of the Limbitless folks … thought it was a worthwhile cause,” Kassab said.
In addition to the bequest that she committed, she will be lending her expertise in pharma economics by advising Limbitless as they work on getting their limbs mass manufactured to provide any child in need, Manero said.
“Her experience in seeing a device or a drug get from the idea and the inspiration to the marketplace is kind of what she’s bringing to the table,” Manero said.
The Limbitless team are appreciative of not only the gift, but also the expert help that Smallwood will provide as they work on reaching their goal of providing arms to every child in need.
“Her commitment to supporting Limbitless in the long term really shows that there are champions out there for Limbitless who really believe in the mission to be able to help these children and eventually others that we work with,” Manero said.
Manero emphasizes that “you too can be a champion for Limbitless.” To learn more about what Limbitless is doing, visit 3dhope.com.
