‘I’m absolutely overwhelmed’
QUAD AMPUTEE GARDENER IS LEFT ‘SPEECHLESS’ BY ‘PHENOMENAL’ FUNDS RAISED FOR BIONIC PROSTHETIC
A HAMPSHIRE man has said his life will change after raising enough money to buy a new bionic “Hero Arm”.
Michael White, a school gardener and quad amputee from Fleet, has raised £15,000 in under three months to pay for his new arm.
The donations will be used to buy the “Hero Arm”, a prosthetic made by Open Bionics.
On Sunday October 24, Mr White and his friends organised a car show to help raise some money for the new prosthetic.
Mr White said: “It has just gone so fast, they have said it was a record as I only started the online fundraiser two to three months ago and I’ve already raised the funds.
“When we started it, it had reached £4,000 in just a couple of days, it just took off; we were all dumbfounded. I am absolutely overwhelmed that so many people have donated, I want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart. “It’s been phenomenal.
“The kindness and the support I have received is amazing. At the car show I was in pieces, I was just speechless.”
Old school friends, school parents, neighbours and family acquaintances have all donated to Mr White’s cause.
Hundreds of cars and people attended Sunday’s event which was held at Yateley Manor, where Mr White has worked for 25 years.
The school opened up the front car park for the event, but so many cars arrived that the overflow car park needed to be used.
“We caused a bit of chaos in Yateley,” Mr White joked.
“There was quite a bit of traffic but the feedback I’ve had has been completely positive.”
The event raised a total of £3,111 which took Mr White over his total goal.
When Mr White was 11, he was diagnosed with diabetes and then 20 years ago he was diagnosed with Behcet’s syndrome which is a rare inflammatory condition.
Mr White explained: “Behcet’s, coupled with diabetes, restricts the blood flow to your extremities, so any cuts or damage to my fingers and toes did not heal up.”
Between 2012 and 2017, he had around 30 operations resulting in the amputation of both legs and hands.
“To be honest, I had so many operations I have lost count – I’ve probably had more procedures – It’s been quite the journey,” he admitted.
“I know every anaesthetist and surgeon in Frimley Park Hospital I think.”
Since the operations, Mr White has had to relearn how to walk, eat, and drive through rehabilitation.
Mr White continued: “As you can imagine, being a quad amputee you lose your independence totally.
“The Hero Arm will completely change my life. I’ll be able to hold a knife and fork, and hold a cup properly. It’s going to be a learning process over the next year or so, like it has been with the other prosthetics I already have but it’s the start of a new chapter.”
The Hero Arm will work using Mr White’s nervous system and will behave like a real hand.
The hand will have different settings that can be altered for different types of grips.
Mr White headed to Bristol last week to try on a ‘dummy’ model of the arm that will eventually be made for him.
The Open Bionics team will then begin to construct Mr White’s Hero Arm using their 3D technology.