Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Bionic hug
Five-year-old Jacob makes history with prosthetic Hulk arm
A YOUNGSTER can finally give his little brother a hug after becoming the first child in the UK to have a functioning prosthetic arm fixed above the elbow.
Jacob Scrimshaw, five, was given his powered Hulk robotic arm six days ago and has been wearing it ever since.
He can now cuddle up to his threeyear-old brother Sebastian.
Devoted mum-of-three Gemma Turner vowed to get him an arm when he came home from school crying, saying he was fed up having to struggle.
Most prosthetics for children are created for below the elbow.
But Jacob, who was arrived prematurely, was born with just a tiny bit of his left arm.
This means it is harder to get the false limb to stay attached and an elbow joint has to be created.
Doubled with the fact that robot prosthetics are generally not available on the NHS for children, his parents Gemma and Chris Scrimshaw, both 36, from Halifax, West Yorks, knew they would have a fight on their hands.
Police officer Gemma said: “We started raising money on Go Fund Me in February. We thought we would have to go to America.”
The family had raised £16,000 by September and started to look online to make it happen. Amazingly, Gemma found Ben Ryan, from Menai Bridge, North West Wales, on Instagram. Mr Ryan created an arm for his own child, Sol, when an accident at birth meant he lost his arm at 10 days old. Mr Ryan is CEO of his own company Ambionics, and Jacob is one of their first patients. So far Jacob has been able to play with his brother and push little sister, Nell, six months, in her pushchair.
Ecstatic Gemma said: “Jacob loves his arm. He is getting used to it but it will be fab at Christmas when he will open his presents with two hands.”