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Girl skips for first time after getting bionic arm

Girl with bionic arm skips for the first time

An eight-year-old girl born without a left hand has fulfilled her dream of skipping after being fitted with a bionic arm in time for Christmas.

Zoey and her family, from Telford, worked with the Open Bionics Foundation to raise £20,000 to be fitted with the artificial limb.

She said it was "amazing" and allowed her to do everything she had wanted to do, including skipping.

Despite being born without part of her left arm, Zoey had found a way of doing most things, her grandmother Jann said.

"I'm just hoping that this makes everything that little bit easier for her so she doesn't have to struggle so much with everyday tasks," she said.

At the moment, Zoey is still getting used to her new arm and how heavy it is, so sometimes she has to hold it up with her other hand.

"I've tried skipping," she said, "but I'm still looking forward to being able to do it for longer."

Zoey is in her blue school uniform and is smiling at the camera. She has brown hair and a fringe. Part of he bionic arm can be seen as the sleeve of her cardigan has been pushed up. The bionic arm has a white casing and black outlining. Her grandmother is hugging Zoey from and has her arms wrapped around her waist. The grandmother is wearing a black puffer coat and is smiling into the camera. Behind them is Zoey's school, which is a blue block with rectangular windows. To the left of them are bike sheds with bike racks in them and there are blue outdoor metal tables and benches on the right.
Grandmother Jann said Zoey's arm had allowed her to try new things like button up her shirt and tie shoelaces

The arm is operated by sensors inside, which allow her a range of motions.

She said the "Spider Gwen" colour scheme was her own idea and explained: "I didn't want just one colour, I wanted it to be different colours, as long as it had pink on it."

"She can only wear it for short periods of time at the moment because it's quite heavy and it makes her arm ache," Jann said.

"We're slowly building up to wearing it for longer periods of time."

There is a close-up of Zoe's bionic arm. The hand and fingers are black, with a spider and web design on the forearm on a pink background
Zoey chose a Spider Gwen design for her bionic arm because it featured her favourite colour, pink

She said eventually it would "make a massive difference to her", but has already allowed her to do new things like button up her shirt and tie her shoelaces.

But Jann said being able to skip had been "top of her list".

"She just loves it, she's just so happy and every time she's got it on she's just really bubbly," her grandmother added.

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