Cambs boy born without a hand gets to grips with new ‘robot arm’

A seven-year-old boy from Swavesey who was born without a right hand beamed with joy as he tried out his new 'robot arm'. Louie Morgan-Kemp had just started fundraising for the prosthetic when a kind-hearted businessman saw his story in the news and offered to pay the full £13,000 cost.

The youngster collected the Ironman-themed Hero Arm this week and can move its mechanical fingers by using muscles in his arm to press buttons inside the sleeve. Louie said the gadget, made by Bristol-based Open Bionics, helps him with picking things up, cutting food and pouring drinks.

He said it was 'exciting' to get the arm and he was 'happy' that businessman Billy Dixon had paid for him to get it. The 73-year-old, of Egham, Surrey, saw a story about the family's fundraising in the news this year and contacted Louie's mother on Facebook^[1] offering to pay in full.

Mr Dixon said at the time: "I couldn't think not to do it, it's just in my nature doing things like that." Louie's mother, Hannah Morgan, 32, said she was grateful to Mr Dixon, adding: "We weren't expecting to have it happen so quickly."

Louie used his arm to drink lemonade from a glass and to hold a bag of crisps, using his left hand to eat them, as he got to grips with it on Wednesday (August 23). Teaching assistant Ms Morgan said the school summer holidays this year had "been all about waiting for that – for the Hero Arm".

"It's all he spoke about," she said. "People have said how cool it is." Speaking earlier this year, she said Louie had been telling people he was getting a 'robot arm' and was 'so excited'.

Open Bionics said the Hero Arm is engineered and manufactured un the UK. It describes it as the "world's most affordable multi-grip prosthetic arm, with multi-grip functionality and empowering aesthetics".

References

1. ^{^} Facebook (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Pastel blue pub in the Cambs countryside that boasts two gardens to enjoy in the sunshine (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)