A BOY born without his right arm has been given a bionic limb — and can now pull a cracker with his grandma.
Harry Jones, ten, is one of the first non-military patients to be fitted with an arm through the NHS.
SWNSHarry Jones loves his new bionic limb[/caption]
SWNSHarry has waited a long time to pull Christmas crackers with his Gran[/caption]
He is delighted with the “Hero Arm” after struggling with other devices.
Liverpool fan Harry, of Preston, said: “I love the design. It has a freeze mode which means when I grip things, it locks so I don’t drop them.”
Gran Susan Higham said: “When he got it, he was just beaming.
3He can pull a cracker with both hands, which he’s never been able to do before.”
Open Bionics has a waiting list of people who cannot afford a bionic arm privately.
Boss Samantha Payne said: “To see Harry being the first civilian to be fitted with a Hero Arm under the NHS is monumental.”
Under a new policy, people who have been using Hero Arms for 12 months are eligible for an NHS trial of the technology.
If they pass the trial, they are then able to keep the arm for life.
This means that amputees will be able to access advanced bionics – which have multi-grip technology – for free.
However, the policy still insists that children and young people who do not have previous experience with Hero Arms for instance must wear a certain prosthetic for 12 months in order to be eligible.
Ms Payne added: “It’s a shame that the policy insists that children who do not have previous experience with this tech must wear a device they do not like for 12 months to be eligible for a trial to wear the tech they want.
“However, the change is a baby step in the right direction of better provision and care for upper limb amputees and should still be celebrated.”
SWNSHarry can now perform tasks with ease thanks to the ‘Hero Arm’[/caption]
SWNSThe brave lad is one of the first non-military patients to be fitted with an arm through the NHS[/caption]