Just in time for Christmas, a 5-year-old boy who was born without most of his left arm will get to rip open his gifts from Santa using two hands thanks to green, Hulk-themed prosthetic.
Jacob Scrimshaw's parents fought to get him the artificial arm after he started primary school. While they say he did fine at preschool, kids at his new school who didn't know him and hadn't seen someone with one arm were curious and always asking questions. Jacob struggled with the attention.
The Metro reports his parents raised over $21,000 via GoFundMe to pay for the arm. But that was half the battle. Getting a prosthetic to stay attached to the upper arm is difficult.
Jacob's mother found Ben Ryan, an inventor in the UK who had made a prosthetic arm for his own son and later started a company that makes artificial limbs, according to Metro.
Twelve weeks later, Jacob is now wearing his new, green left arm. He can finally hug his 3-year-old brother, Sebastian, and push his 6-month-old sister, Nell, in her stroller.
The elbow is reportedly set using a sliding lock. The hand closes when Jacob squeezes a water-filled chamber in the upper arm. Jacob's family says the company will continue to work on improvements. His parents are continuing the GoFundMe to pay for those upgrades.
"He is still getting used to it but it is great, we are thinking it will be fab at Christmas when he’ll be able to open his presents with two hands." his mother, Gemma Turner, told Metro.
Jacob is reportedly the first child his age in the UK to have such an arm. Ryan says the reason isn't because of a lack of technology, but that parents just don't know it's possible.
