UK students built a launcher so a Lancaster teen can throw a football
University of Kentucky engineering students adapted a ball cannon for 16-year-old Sam Roberts, who has 4H leukodystrophy. His first passes flew while friends cheered, and he will use it with teammates this fall.
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Sam Roberts, 16, of Lancaster, wanted to throw a football with his friends. Kentucky Today reported that he has 4H leukodystrophy, a rare disorder with a few hundred known patients worldwide and no treatment that reverses the genetic cause. When he said so at the University of Kentucky's Child Development Center of the Bluegrass, engineering students took the request.
Audra Proffitt and her team adapted a ball cannon so he could launch passes. His first throws flew, and the people watching cheered. He is set to use the device with his teammates this fall. The launcher does not change the disorder. It gives him a way onto the field.
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