MOSES LAKE - Every boy wants to be a superhero. With modern science and engineering, Ben Stephens, 12, Moses Lake, gets to be one.

Stephens was born with a congenital birth defect that left him without fingers on his left hand. His wrist is almost fully formed with five of seven bones. Until recently Stephens had to endure ridicule from classmates and stares from strangers because of this.

That all ended when his mother, Heather Kerekffy, saw a video on YouTube about a boy Stephen's age that, with the help of his father, built a mechanical hand that latches to his wrist and operates fingers that grasp. "Ben smiled and said, 'That would be cool to have'" Kerekffy said.

What they found is called a Mech-En hand, designed by the E-nable group. The hand is made up of hardware found at any general store, a system of strings and pulleys, a leather strap to hold it onto the user, and pieces of filament formed from a 3-D printer.

One of the designers, Ivan Owen, lives in Bellingham. Kerekffy contacted Owen and she said he agreed to donate the hand and teach the family how to assemble and care for it.

"When we told him a little bit of what Ben had been through, he wanted to meet us," Kerekffy said.

Stephens and his family drove to Bellingham where the six hour assembly process started.

Some of those six hours was socializing. Stephens has high functioning Autism, which among other things, makes it hard for him to open up to strangers.

When the work started, "Ben got to put it all together, it was separated out. Ben helped string it and construct it," his mother said.

Stephens' model is unique for his needs and abilities. From the wrist back Owen used the 'Cyborg Beast' model, created by E-nable contributors at Crieghton University in Nebraska. From the wrist forward Owen used the 'Talon' model, created by an E-nable father-son duo in Washington, Owen said, and for only about $40 in materials.

Stephens said some of the kids at Chief Moses Middle School, where he attends, call his Mech-En hand his Cyborg hand. This is a vast improvement, Kerekffy said, from the negative attention Stephens used to get at his elementary school.

The hand "seems to suit the need emotionally as well as physically," Kerekffy said, it "makes his hand part of him."

Stephens was able to perform daily functions before the Mech-En hand, he could even tie his shoes with one hand. Now, he works with his physical therapist at school to incorporate his new hand into his daily routine. He can pick up things including his backpack, hold onto things like cellphones, and shake hands with it, Kerekffy said.

One thing he can't do with it, his mom said, is attach a weapon to it. Although, a spider web dispenser might be negotiable.

Other limitations include lifting objects more than 25 pounds, exposing it to high heat or stress, and water. Stephens takes off the hand before he goes in the shower, and can't expect it to catch him if he falls.

Because of these limitations Kerekffy said, "It needs to be their choice, the child's choice. (They need) age and maturity on how to respect the boundaries of what a plastic hand can do because it's not like a metal hand, or a physical hand."

She said there are a few other children in Moses Lake who lack a hand, and only time will tell if a Mech-En hand is right for them.

The E-nable group is a global project, one that Stephens is now a part of. "E-nable is a group of over 600 people to join up and collaborate and improve the design (of the hands). The phrase that works here is 'democratizing innovation.' The users of this device and those who will donate their time to make the changes," continue to improve on the design and make it more accessible for children like Ben, Owen said.

There are several sub-groups in the project who make video tutorials for on-line or are developing a myloelectric hand, Owen said.

"As time moves forward and spreads forward, there's a chance this will impact the field of prosthetics for people to build their own devices. And, companies interested in developing low-cost prosthetics can draw from this group and improve on the designs themselves," Owen said. "There is lot of room for improvement."

"For kids like Ben, it equates with a screwdriver, a tool he puts on for specific tasks. Mostly, it's useful for stuff we use for granted, like picking up a tablet or smart phone and manipulating it with another hand," Owen said.

As Stephens outgrows his current hand, which his mother and Owen said will happen soon, he will be able to participate in the E-nable process by trying out new models and reporting the results to Owen and other developers.

Currently, Owen is working on the next Mech-En hand for Ben by widening the design he currently uses at the wrist, where Stephens needs more room to move, Owen said.

"The internet has become a really cool, wild world out there. It allows people with very specific interests or needs to find each other. I never would have expected it (E-nable) would have resulted from a YouTube video," Owen said.

"It's a success," Kerekffy said. "Yeah," Stephens said.

So the community has in its midst a super human boy with mechanical parts. It's no X-ray vision or invisibility, but at least Stephens doesn't have to fall into toxic waste or get bit by a poisonous spider.

View a video of the interview with Stephens and his mom on the Columbia Basin Herald's YouTube channel.