Technology

Boy, 5, given prosthetic arm that lets him hug brother

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Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionThe hug that means Jacob's new arm is a successWhen Jacob was born eight weeks early most of his left arm was missing.His parents Gemma Turner and Chris Scrimshaw, from Calderdale in West Yorkshire, crowdfunded to get a £16,000 functioning limb made for him.

The NHS and most companies take the view that a functioning prosthetic is not an option when the limb ends above the elbow.That is where Ben Ryan, from Menai Bridge on Anglesey, came in, designing an arm for Jacob, who is now five.Image copyrightBen RyanImage caption Jacob and his brother hugged after his new arm was fitted Mr Ryan developed a hydraulic design after his son Sol had an emergency amputation when he was 10 days old.It led him to quit his job as a psychology lecturer and set up his own company, named Ambionics, two and a half years ago.His firm merged with Polish prosthetic maker Glaze this year.One of their first clients was Jacob.Image copyrightBen RyanImage caption Jacob with his mother Gemma at the fitting Mr Ryan has been working with a prosthetics expert and Jacob's family to perfect a hydraulic arm for him.The family wanted an elbow that could be set in different positions, a gripping mechanism and a modular hand that can be swapped out for other tools.He explained that the prosthetics are not 3D printed in the normal way, as they are forged together in a bath of nylon powder using lasers.Image copyrightBen RyanImage caption Jacob's new arm is superhero-themed Image copyrightBen RyanImage caption Jacob is now able to grip things with his functioning prosthetic Mr Ryan said the elbow can be set using a sliding lock, and the hand closes when Jacob squeezes a water filled rubber chamber that is mounted to the upper arm.He designed a mechanism to make it work while the arm was cast by his colleagues in Poland.Perhaps, more importantly - for Jacob anyway - it is large, green and superhero themed."It was what Jacob wanted, including have a larger hand, so the theme is perfect," said Mr Ryan.On Thursday he delivered the arm to Jacob at a meeting in Ringwood, Hampshire, and said the fitting was a "success" and that Jacob "exceeded everybody's expectations"."He can give his brother a hug and hold his hand," he said.Image copyrightBen RyanImage caption Jacob was born eight weeks early with most of his left arm missing Speaking after the final fitting, Gemma, a police officer, said watching her son wear the arm was "lovely", adding that he "really likes it, he's got it on right now".She explained that Jacob did not want a non-functioning prosthetic and said: "He's not bothered about looking like everybody else."The addition has also helped with balancing his posture, she added.While raising funds to get Jacob a functioning prosthetic, one anonymous donor gave them £5,000 - saying she was terminally ill and unable to complete her bucket list.Gemma said asking for money was "kind of a bit strange for us but you've got to do what you've got to do"."The family have had so much bad luck getting help for Jacob," said Mr Ryan."Nobody has been able to deliver something that could work for him."It's always been the same status-quo - that it won't work when the prosthetic is for the upper arm."




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