Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Harmonie can hold her sister’s hand for first time
QUADRUPLE amputee and meningitis survivor Harmonie-Rose has finally been able to hold her family’s hands after being given a bionic arm.
Harmonie-Rose, from Foxhill in Bath, lost all four limbs to meningitis when she was 10 months old in 2014.
The seven-year-old already uses prosthetic legs but has now been given a new bionic arm with fingers she can move using muscles in her arm.
Freya Hall, Harmonie’s mum, said it had been “amazing” to see her now be able to do things that she hadn’t been able to do before, like open doors and play in the woods.
Freya said: “She has had the arm for a couple of weeks now, so it is still really new. One of the first things she did was paint the nails.
“We had a trial with the arm back in late October as we really weren’t sure it would work because we didn’t know if she had the right muscles in the right places following her amputation at Bristol Children’s Hospital seven years ago.
“It makes us all so happy to see her using it and we feel so proud.”
Freya said Harmonie-Rose had always been full of light and never let anything stop her.
She has taken part in the Bath Half Marathon, perhaps the youngest person ever in the event.
She enjoys playing with her sister Luna, who is three, and has now held her hand for the first time.
Freya said: “It’s just so nice to see them holding hands because they hadn’t been able to do that before.
“It is the little things that everyone else takes for granted that make the biggest difference, like picking up toys and playing.
“What science can do these days is brilliant, and in the future, as she gets older, the choice of arms will get more developed and advanced.”
She added: “Right now she can’t have anything too heavy and is still learning to use it, but is doing so well.”
She explained that HarmonieRose asked for a hand and the prosthetics department said they could help.
“She was so happy when we realised it could work; it was really emotional. At the moment she is working towards being able to throw a ball.
“To us, she is normal the way she is, but she inspires us every day. She has got such a bright character.”
Harmonie-Rose, who was given a 10 per cent chance of survival when she fell ill with meningitis, now attends school and has learnt to run on her prosthetic legs.
After the cancellation of the London Marathon in the first lockdown, she raised £76,000 by running 2.6 metres 26 times without prosthetic legs, jumping on a trampoline 26 times and performing 26 cartwheels.
RECLAIM These Streets’ vigils will be held in Bristol and Bath this weekend for Sarah Everard and “all women who feel unsafe on our streets”.
Ms Everard vanished while walking home from a friend’s flat in south London on Wednesday, March 3.
Ms Everard is thought to have walked through Clapham Common towards her house in Brixton – a journey which should have taken around 50 minutes.
She was last captured on a doorbell camera walking along the A205 Poynders Road towards Tulse Hill at around 9.30pm on March 3.
A body found hidden in woodland in Kent has been identified as that of the 33-year-old marketing executive.
Police are continuing to question a serving officer on suspicion of Sarah’s kidnap and murder.
A vigil on Clapham Common was first organised, entitled Reclaim These Streets, earlier this week which has garnered a response from communities across the country.
Numerous similar vigils have been organised across the country in response, including in Birmingham, Liverpool and Cardiff.
The vigil in Bath will take place at the Royal Crescent at 4pm today, while the Bristol vigil will be held on College Green at 6pm, with information being distributed on social media about the events.
Organisers of the event in Bristol describe it as “a vigil for Sarah Everard and all women who feel unsafe on our streets”.
The Reclaim These Streets movement, which is organising the primary vigil on Clapham Common in London amid others across the country, posted a statement on its website saying the action was intended to be “for all women who face violence every day”.
“Reclaim These Streets is organised by a group of women who wanted to channel the collective grief, outrage and sadness in our community,” it said.
“This is a vigil for Sarah, but also for all women who feel unsafe, who go missing from our streets and who face violence every day.”
All who take part in the College Green vigil have been asked to wear masks and abide by all social distancing restrictions while attending amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown.
A similar movement – Reclaim the Night – sprung up in the wake of the Yorkshire Ripper murders in the 1970s.