Now I can finally pull a cracker! Boy, 9, gets a new hand just in time for Xmas
THERE was only one present nineyear-old Josh Daly wanted for Christmas this year – a left hand.
Now his wish has come true after he was fitted with a 3D printed limb, meaning he can open his presents and pull crackers with his sister Eve, eight.
His mother Kelly said Josh, who was born with his left hand missing, was thrilled. She added: ‘He can’t stop smiling. It means that he can do so much more. We are going to have a wonderful Christmas this year.’
Mrs Daly, 40, who lives in Bristol with husband Paul, 44, a tax consultant, was told at her 20-week scan that Josh’s hand was missing.
‘It was a massive shock,’ she said. ‘The doctors told us that his arm had been trapped somehow throughout the early weeks of pregnancy, which meant it hadn’t developed properly.
‘There was no explanation for why it had happened in the womb, I was told it was just one of those things.’
Before Josh was born a plastic surgeon told his parents that he could try to create a hand for Josh by removing some of his toes and attaching them to his arm.
But Mrs Daly said: ‘We knew there was an option of a prosthetic arm, or to have this operation, but we wanted to see how he would cope when he was born before we made any decisions.’
Josh amazed his parents by quickly adapting to life without his left hand, and they decided not to go ahead with any surgery. Mrs Daly said: ‘He learnt to crawl, and pick things up and throw things, so we decided not to have anything done.
‘As he grew older, he made the choice that he didn’t want to wear a prosthetic arm. He preferred to try to do everything without.
‘Then earlier this year he was looking on the internet and started reading about 3D printed hands.
‘We looked further into it, and he said he would like to try one. It was much cooler for him to have one of the printed hands than one of the traditional prosthetic arms.’
The couple approached FabLab in Essex, which specialises in making limbs through 3D printing, and Josh was measured up. He was fitted for his new hand a few weeks later and has now got used to using it.
Mrs Daly said: ‘He was thrilled when he tried on his new hand for the first time, and could pick things up properly. It has given him so much more independence and confidence.
‘He has always managed really well, but now he can feel more like other children. It was wonderful to see him being able to pull Christmas crackers for the first time with his sister. It’s something that I never thought I’d see.’