Eight-Year-Old Achieves Skipping Dream With New Bionic Arm

An eight-year-old girl, born without her left hand, has realized her ambition of skipping after being fitted with a bionic arm just in time for Christmas. Zoey and her family, who reside in Telford, collaborated with the Open Bionics Foundation to raise £20,000 for the acquisition of the artificial limb. She described the experience as “amazing,” stating that it enabled her to perform all desired activities, including skipping. Her grandmother, Jann, noted that despite being born without a portion of her left arm, Zoey had managed to accomplish most tasks. “I’m just hoping that this makes everything that little bit easier for her so she doesn’t have to struggle so much with everyday tasks,” Jann said. Currently, Zoey is adapting to her new arm and its weight, occasionally needing to support it with her other hand. She remarked, “I’ve tried skipping,” adding, “but I’m still looking forward to being able to do it for longer.” The arm functions via internal sensors, providing her with a variety of movements. She indicated that the “Spider Gwen” colour scheme was her concept, clarifying, “I didn’t want just one colour, I wanted it to be different colours, as long as it had pink on it.” “She can only wear it for short periods of time at the moment because it’s quite heavy and it makes her arm ache,” Jann commented. “We’re slowly building up to wearing it for longer periods of time,” Jann stated. She mentioned that it would ultimately “make a massive difference to her,” having already enabled her to perform new actions such as buttoning her shirt and tying her shoelaces. However, Jann highlighted that the ability to skip had been “top of her list.” Her grandmother further added, “She just loves it, she’s just so happy and every time she’s got it on she’s just really bubbly.” For more updates, follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.