Young Jacob was born eight weeks premature and he was missing most of his left arm.
But thanks to a functioning limb that his parents Gemma Turner and Chris Scrimshaw crowdfunded for him, he has a chance to live a more normal life.
The couple from Calderdale in West Yorkshire had to launch a crowdfunding campaign because Jacob’s limb ends above the elbow and the NHS and most companies rule out functioning prosthetics in those cases.
Watch to find out more about this little boy’s story below!
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Video credit: Rumble
But Ben Ryan, from Menai Bridge on Anglesey, designed a special prosthetic for 5-year-old Jacob. Ryan has working experience in this area because his son Sol underwent an emergency amputation at 10 days old so Ryan developed a hydraulic prosthetic afterward.
Two-and-a-half years ago, Ryan quit his job as a psychology lecturer in order to found Ambionics, which merged with Polish prosthetic maker Glaze this year. And Jacob was one of the merger’s first clients.
Together with a prosthetic expert and Jacob’s family, Ryan made a hydraulic arm that was just right for the young boy. Among the features requested by the family was an elbow that could bend in all directions, a modular hand that could be swapped out for other accessories and a gripping mechanism.
Ryan explained that a different method of 3D-printing was used to make the prosthetic. They were melded together in a nylon powder bath using lasers.
The elbow has a sliding lock and a water-filled rubber chamber mounted on Jacob’s upper arm closes the prosthetic hand when he squeezes.
Ryan worked on the mechanism that made the whole thing work will his colleagues in Poland manufactured the arm itself.
Best of all, the prosthetic is green and superhero-themed.
“It was what Jacob wanted, including have a larger hand, so the theme is perfect,” said Ryan.
He presented the arm during a meeting with Jacob and his family in Ringwood, Hampshire, and after a successful fitting, Jacob “exceeded everybody’s expectations.”
“He can give his brother a hug and hold his hand,” he said.
Mother Gemma, a police officer, said it was “lovely” watching her son getting fitted with the arm and that he “really likes it, he’s got it on right now.”
Adding that Jacob wanted a functioning prosthetic from the start, she explained: “He’s not bothered about looking like everybody else.”
The prosthetic also made balancing his posture easier, she added.
Gemma said that asking help from strangers was “kind of a bit strange for us but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
“The family has had so much bad luck getting help for Jacob,” said Ryan.
“Nobody has been able to deliver something that could work for him.
“It’s always been the same status-quo – that it won’t work when the prosthetic is for the upper arm.”
Replaced!