I’ll have an appy Christmas with my bionic hand
Writer’s iPad hope after losing limbs to sepsis
Lisa Boyle
A gran who lost her limbs to sepsis is set to become one of the first people in Scotland to trial a life-changing bionic hand programmed by an iPad.
Marguerite Henderson hopes she will be given the artificial hand, which mimics natural wrist rotation in time for Christmas.
The invention will make it easier for the 57-year- old retired seamstress to perform tasks such as turning objects and sewing clothes again.
Marguerite said: “I was given a different bionic hand a few weeks ago but it wasn’t working for me because the wrist didn’t move and I was having to move my whole arm just to move the hand round.
“This will be a new one that they’ve never used before. I’ve been given the go-ahead to have a wrist-action bionic hand so that the joint moves as well, so it’s worth the wait.
“My prosthetist in Glasgow said there’s only been one other person that’s used this type of bionic hand, so it’s new to him as well.
“There are other ones out there with wrist action but they don’t tend to give them out to people unless they’re missing both hands.
“It’s fascinating that it’s al l programmed through an iPad to see how my nerves work. I’m hoping to have it in time for Christmas.”
It comes as the author is preparing to give a digital talk for Book Week Scotland this Tuesday on surviving sepsis and writing a book about her recovery using her stump thumb.
The online event, named Don’t Let
Disability Hold
You Back, will feature talks from Marguerite and Lynn Gordon, the blind author of against-the-odds novel Bit By Bit.
Marguerite, who also had her legs amputated after contracting sepsis from a paper cut in February 2018, took six months to document her blood poisoning memoir My Story: Sepsis – Raw And Real.
The grandmother of three has already amazed doctors by threading a needle with her prosthetic arm and texting people from her mobile.
Marguerite said: “I’ ll be talking about the trials of writing a book with a disability. I want to show people how I’ve conquered some barriers and to give an insight into how difficult it is but to show that, if you have the right attitude, you can make advances and do what you can to make life as good as it can be. “Writing about my experience made me realise how far I’d come since I came out of hospital. I’m always trying to do better and I’m always coming up against things. I can sew a hem up on my trousers now and I never thought I’d ever sit at a sewing machine again.
“My daughter wi l l come through to me with two hands and ask me to sew a button on for her still because she can’t do it with two hands.”
The bionic hand, named Michelangelo, costs £ 47,000 and is control led by commands sent from the brain.
It’s programmed through an iPad, which enables it to understand nerve signals sent by Marguerite. She added: “My brain thinks my hand is still there so when I use the nerves from my arm it tells the bionic hand to open and close.”
NHSGGC senior prosthetist Vincent MacEachen said: “This is potentially life-changing for Marguerite and, having worked with her for the last year, I am really excited about how this could transform things for her.
“Thanks to the Specialist Prosthetic Service in Scotland, she is potentially the first person in the country to use this hand, which offers a variety of grasps as well as wrist rotation. These features should enable Marguerite to perform everyday tasks. I’m looking forward to fitting this with her in the next few weeks.”
Marguerite added: “I want people to know you can always find a way of doing something. This isn’t going to beat me.”
I want people to know that you can always find a way of doing something