5-Year-Old Boy Hugged His Brother Right After He Received His Prosthetic Limb

Dec 27, 2019 by apost team

Jacob was a premature baby, born with only a small portion of his left arm. His arm did not extend past his elbow. His parents are Chris Scrimshaw and Gemma Turner. Due to their use of crowdfunding and an enterprising company, their son now has a working limb.

All that Chris and Gemma wanted for their son was to have a normal life. A functioning prosthetic seemed impossible because the majority of companies and the UK National Health Service (NHS) do not believe prosthetics are effective in instances like Jacob's, according to the BBC. Despite this, his parents still launched their campaign in West Yorkshire, England and raised the nearly $21,000 required. 

Enter Ben Ryan, the man who proved the majority wrong. He worked in Anglesey at Menai Bridge. He was the creator of the prosthetic Jacob needed.

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Ryan knew what to do, as his own son was just ten days old when he required an emergency amputation. He had founded a company called Ambisonics two and a half years prior. Later, Ambisonics merged with Polish company Glaze Prosthetics.

One of their first clients was Jacob. With their assistance, the ideal hydraulic arm was created for Jacob. The ingenious prosthetic included a mechanism for gripping, an interchangeable modular hand and an elbow that could bend in every direction.

The prosthetic was made using a type of 3D-printing and melded with lasers in a bath containing nylon powder. The rubber chamber used to attach the arm is filled with water with a sliding lock for the elbow. Jacob now has a green arm designed to look like it belongs to a superhero, the BBC reported.

His parents took their son to Ringwood for the fitting. The first thing Jacob did was hug his brother. His mother works as a police officer and was touched when her son received his new arm. She explained that Jacob did not want a non-functioning prosthetic and said, "He's not bothered about looking like everybody else," to the BBC. Jacob can also balance a lot easier now.

And Ryan proved it is possible to construct a prosthetic that will work just fine for the upper arm despite what the NHS and other companies believe.

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