
Share
30th December 2021
01:55pm GMT

"He wears it for school every day. His face when he received it was a picture. He was over the moon. He said it's like Christmas. It was all he asked for."
Billy, who lives with his family in Leeds, Yorkshie, has a congenital limb defect, which is when an arm or leg doesn't form normally as a baby grows in the uterus. The exact cause is unknown, and in Billy’s case, doctors didn’t recognise any issues with his arms until he was born.
Donna said she first came across the “hero arm”, made by Bristol-based company OpenBionics, when she began researching their ambassador Tilly Lockey.
The 16-year old double-amputee has used her two “hero arms” since she was eight, and won the sixth series of the CBBC show Got What It Takes?
Related links:
Billy's new bionic arm uses sensors within the casing to allow him to respond to movements and is designed to act like a real arm.
Since his fitting, Donna said Billy is now learning how to use the arm to achieve his goals, which include fishing, one of his favourite hobbies.
Samantha Payne, MBE, COO at Open Bionics, said the company was "so happy to hear Billy is set to continue his Hero Arm journey".
She added: "We're grateful to the donor and we're hopeful that NHS England will make the decision soon to give access to multi-grip bionic arms to arm amputees. "They deserve access to this technology as it has a huge impact on their daily living and mental health."Explore more on these topics:

Entertainment - JOE.co.uk | Joe.co.uk
entertainment