That's HANDY!
A nifty gadget is helping Julie’s girl get to grips with life...
Iwas gutted my hubby, Tim, 34, was away and couldn’t make my 20-week scan of our first baby together. Skype you later, I texted him. But after my scan and an amniocentesis test, the midwife told me my baby had amniotic-band syndrome.
A ‘band’ in the womb had wrapped around part of one of her hands, restricting the growth.
‘What if she can’t write, or feed herself ?’ I sobbed to Tim, later.
Abbi arrived on 14 April 2010, and was born with just a thumb on her left hand.
As she got older, Abbi would look from one hand to the other, knowing that something was missing.
At 18 months old, surgeons at Derriford Hospital took bones from Abbi’s left toes, and inserted them inside her palm and stretched the skin over.
Her toes were replaced with bits of hip bone.
But as Abbi grew, she knew that she was different.
‘Where are my fingers?’ she’d ask, and I had to explain that she’d been born that way.
We also had to tell Abbi that it was likely she’d need more surgery to remove another toe, and maybe her thumb, to create three fingers.
But then my mum, Lin, read about a 3D printed hand created in America by E-NABLE.
So we launched an appeal to find a local 3D printer, and IT firm Midwich came forward.
They printed around 20 pieces, which were then put together with elastic bands.
And on 26 March last year, we picked up Abbi’s new hand.
She’d chosen pink and was so excited as we strapped it on.
The look of determination as she moved her wrist up and down to open and close her fingers was the sweetest thing.
Seeing Abbi, now 4, smile as she brushes her dolls’ hair with both hands is amazing. But I’m not sure Tim’s so keen, as Abbi’s taken to pinching his bottom with her nifty digits!
Talk about getting to grips with life!