A British teenager born with only one hand is learning to ride a bike after being fitted with the world’s first medically-certified 3D-printed bionic hand.
Fourteen-year-old Aimee Ashton, a talented art student from Hull, was born with part of her arm missing and no left hand.
Aimee had previously used prosthetic arms but stopped using them because ‘they didn’t do anything’ and weren’t responsive to movement.
But she has since been fitted with the ‘Hero Arm’, developed by Bristol-based company Open Bionics, which costs around £10,000.
The battery-powered arm picks up signals from muscles allowing the user to do tasks with both hands.
It can also be quickly removed, features a ‘breathable socket’ for ventilation and can hold a position in ‘freeze mode’, which is useful for holding a glass.
Fourteen-year-old Aimee Ashton could only watch as her pals pedalled around after school before being fitted with the ‘Hero Arm’
The arms are customisable for each user and can be themed to their favourite cartoon or character, such as Ironman or BB8 from Star Wars.
Being fitted with the arm means Aimee, an aspiring art teacher, can bake, ride a bike and start learning to drive when she turns 17.
‘When I was 18 months old I actually got a prosthetic arm but couldn’t do much with it,’ she said.
‘When I got the arm, the bionic one, it moves, it actually moves – like it’s alive and it’s like having your own superpower. It’s something very different to a normal hand.’
New activities awaits the teen – including cycling, baking and driving when she reaches the age of 17
It is not known why Aimee’s disability occurred, although it is possible she suffered amniotic band syndrome in the womb – where strands of the amniotic sac separate and entangle digits, limbs, or other parts of the foetus.
At 18-months-old Aimee went to the NHS limb clinic in Hull and they made her a prosthetic arm and hand, but she said she ‘couldn’t do much with it’.
In year five, Aimee had another limb made on the NHS, but again, it wasn’t responsive enough.
The aspiring art teach was fitted with her arm just before Christmas and is still getting used to what it can do. But her artwork has taken off now she can draw using both hands
‘I remember when I got my second one and I was excited but after a few days I went off it because it just didn’t do anything – it didn’t move,’ she said.
Last year Aimee began researching prosthetics that may help her to draw and came upon Open Bionics, which sells the Hero Arm for between £8,500 and £11,000.
After receiving funding help from Open Bionics’ charitable trust, Aimee was fitted with her arm just before Christmas and is still getting used to what it can do.
Aimee is obsessed with art and hopes to be an art teacher when she leaves school. However having one hand has always made it difficult to draw, especially as her mum is convinced if she had two hands she’d be left-handed just like her
She is now learning to cycle ten years after watching her school friends on their bikes after school.
‘I was emotional when she got the hand, because it’s all she ever wanted,’ said Amy’s mum Samantha Thirkettle.
‘She’s often said to me “I just want to be normal” and getting this gift is just a dream come true.’
Samantha discovered her daughter’s disability when she went for her 20-week pregnancy scan.
Aimee has been sketching artworks with both her right hand and her new bionic hand on her left
Aimee previously used prosthetic arms, which she stopped using because they didn’t move
‘When I was having the scan they asked me to go for a little walk and come back as they were having some problems and I just knew,’ she said.
‘For 48 hours it was a lot to take in but I didn’t worry about how she’d cope, I just thought we’d cross that bridge when we got to it.’
Samantha remembers her daughter once being determined to take part in her primary school’s skipping race on sport’s day even though she couldn’t hold the rope.
‘As she got older she’d notice people staring at her and I know she used to hide it. She’d cross her arms over, or put it up her sleeve,’ she said.
Aimee as a little girl. It is not known why the disability occurred, although it is possible Aimee suffered Amniotic Band Syndrome in the womb – where strands of the amniotic sac separate and entangle digits, limbs, or other parts of the foetus
‘She definitely knew she was different to other people and more so as she got older.’
Aimee hopes to be an art teacher when she leaves school, but having one hand had always made it more difficult to draw.
Samantha believes Aimee would have been left-handed if it weren’t for her physical impairment.
But she can now do her artwork with both hands and is even drawing impressive sketches with the Hero Arm.
‘I can do everything that a person with two hands can do,’ Aimee said.
‘After I got the arm, I thought “Could I draw with my arm?” Two days later, I drew something without any sketches, and it turned out that, well, I was quite proud of what I did.’
