Bionic arm for leading prosthetic expert who lost limb in horror crash
AS a skilled prosthetist, Dr Jim Ashworth-Beaumont had helped NHS patients regain their independence after the trauma of losing a limb.
But what he did not expect was that he would also one day benefit from cuttingedge prosthetics technology after losing an arm in a cycling accident.
Dr Ashworth-Beaumont, from Edinburgh, had to have his right arm amputated while he was trapped beneath an articulated lorry that had knocked him from his bike in July 2020.
He spent six weeks in an induced coma and the scale of his appalling injuries meant he was lucky to survive.
But now the 55-year-old has been able to return to work after being fitted with a revolutionary bionic arm thanks to experts from three of Europe’s largest prosthetic manufacturers.
The bespoke electronic limb can be fitted with different hands to suit a range of tasks and was designed by his former Strathclyde University friend Alan McDougall, clinic manager at Surrey-based ProActive Prosthetics.
Dr Ashworth-Beaumont said: ‘I have been blown away by the generosity of these amazing companies as well as Alan and the team at Proactive.
‘This arm represents the difference between me being independent and able to carry on working and not working and having restricted independence.’
The former Royal Marine, who lives in Greenwich, south-east London, and works as a prosthetist and orthotist at the city’s Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, was training for a triathlon when he was ‘side swiped’ off his bike after stopping at traffic lights.
He said: ‘I was aware of the wheels of the articulated lorry rollairlifted ing up my arm and I was convinced the next part of my body to be hit would be my head.
‘I was pretty convinced that I was going to die.’
The married father of two’s arm had to be amputated above the elbow before he could be freed from beneath the 40-ton lorry and to Kings College Hospital, where he began his career in 2000.
He had also suffered nerve damage to his legs, collapsed lungs, liver and kidney trauma, spinal fractures, broken bones in his face and arms, and a fracture in every single rib in his body.
Dr Ashworth-Beaumont was later told it was touch and go whether he would survive.
Mr McDougall contacted three prosthetics companies – Ottobock, össur and Steeper – which supplied devices for free, then came up with a bespoke arm using electrical signals from the tricep and bicep muscles to control hand and wrist movements.
For day-to-day use, Dr Ashworth-Beaumont has an össur ‘i-limb quantum’ prosthetic hand which can carry out precise activities such as holding cutlery, peeling an orange or shaking hands.
He uses an Ottobock Greifer ‘gripper’ hand for heavier lifting.
The hands connect with an Otto bock wrist unit, and the ‘Espire Pro’ elbow, produced by Steeper, contains the ‘brain’ that allows the components to work together.
Dr Ashworth-Beaumont has now been able to return to work designing and fitting artificial limbs.
He said: ‘I can manipulate items and grab uneven-shaped objects like cups, tools or something as fragile as an apple.’
Mr McDougall, originally from East Kilbride, said Dr AshworthBeaumont had to master the control of the different joints of the arm, which would have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. He added: ‘There is a lot to learn.’
‘Convinced I was going to die’