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Father gets choked up talking about how Iron Man arm helps his son

Posted at 10:35 AM, Mar 13, 2015
and last updated 2015-03-13 12:37:28-04

GROVELAND, Fla. – If you saw any of the Iron Man movies, you recognize this.

It’s the arm actor Robert Downey Jr.’s character wears, loaded with powers and abilities.

For 7-year-old Alex Pring, it provides the greatest power of all, confidence.

“Everybody treats me so good now,” Alex said.

But Alex said before he got the arm, things weren’t as great.

“Some people would say, ‘What happened to your arm,’ or ‘How did that happen’ and all that bad stuff. I don’t like it. It makes me feel very bad.”

“Now they’re asking about his cool arm and it’s a confidence thing, you know,” Alex’s dad, Steve said. “Not, ‘what happened to you,’ that’s been very humbling. Very humbling. At times choked me up, knowing how happy your son is now.”

The arm doesn’t have a lot of supernatural powers, it just makes life easier on Alex, physically and mentally.

UCF mechanical engineering grad student Albert Manera is the man responsible.

He and his nonprofit “Limbitless,” designed the arm.

Manera said, “We’re thrilled to be a part of it and we’re trying to help kids around the world. So our goal is to go to the UN and UNICEF and have them help with the project and there are a lot of children in need around the world and we want to be a part of that solution.”

They are already part of Alex’s solution.

“All the time I would say thank you. Thank you, thank you because they have helped me so much fit in the group, I just like them so much,” Alex said.

Robert Downey Jr. presents child with ‘Iron Man’ robotic arm