The schoolgirl is getting the perfect Christmas present this year: seven-year-old becomes the youngest person in the UK to receive a bionic hand – meaning she can open her presents herself for the first time
- Thalia Coultas, 7, is the youngest person in the UK to receive a bionic hand
- She has been asking her parents for a bionic hand since she was four
- It was funded in part by Open Bionics and fundraising
- She can now eat her own Christmas dinner and unwrap her presents
Thalia Coultas is getting the perfect Christmas gift this year: the chance to open her presents for the first time herself.
The seven-year-old is the youngest person in the UK to be given a special bionic hand, meaning she can now eat her Christmas dinner unaided.
Thalia, who was born without her left hand, has been asking her parents for a bionic hand since she was four years old.
Usually, the prostheses are never placed before the age of eight due to the muscle power required to operate the bionic opening and closing mechanisms.
Thalia Coultas, 7, is the youngest person in the UK to receive a bionic hand
She was born without her left hand and now she can eat her Christmas dinner and open her presents on her own
However, Open Bionics experts decided to let Thalia try the device a year early, and last month she was handed £11,000.
Thalia’s mum Kerrie, 40, said: ‘Her new bionic hand is amazing. She is absolutely thrilled about it.
She can’t stop picking things up. “She can’t wait to unwrap her presents on Christmas Day.
She’ll be able to tear them open for the first time and eat her Christmas dinner too – it will be the best gift for us to see her do that.’
Ms Coultas, who lives with her husband Wesley, 39, who is in the Royal Navy, and their eldest daughter Savannah, nine, in Selby, North Yorkshire, was first told about Thalia’s hand during her 20-week scan.
She said, “The sonographer told me she needed a doctor to come and check the scan. He then told me the news that her arm stopped growing after the elbow.
“I was just in shock at first and couldn’t comprehend it. All I could think about was how she would manage in life, and I worried that she would be teased at school.”
Since birth, Thalia has had several prosthetic arms, but none with a grip.
The seven-year-old has been asking her parents for a bionic hand since she was four
The new bionic hand was funded in part by Open Bionics and fundraising
Ms Coultas said: ‘She got a limb when she was younger just for aesthetic purposes. It did nothing.
Then she tried one with a prong and a hook on the end, with a strap around it and attached to her other arm. It didn’t suit her at all, so she had to adjust to life without it.’
From the age of four, Thalia’s greatest wish was to have a bionic arm. Ms Coultas said: ‘She always said she wanted an arm like a robot – it was always her one big wish.
“We didn’t think she’d get it at eight years old at the earliest, but Open Bionics agreed she could try a year early.”
Thalia’s mum Kerrie Coultas said: ‘She would always say she wanted an arm like a robot – it was always her one big wish’
The Bristol-based company is developing 3D-printed bionic arms for patients with below-elbow amputations.
Thalia was equipped with his new Hero arm, which uses the muscle cues from the rest of the arm to activate the bionic hand’s grasping function.
It was funded in part by Open Bionics and the family’s own fundraising effort.
Ms Coultas added: ‘It’s amazing – it changed her life. It has given Thalia the full use of a hand, and she is extremely excited about it. It’s going to be the best Christmas ever.’
An Open Bionics spokesperson said: “We are thrilled to see Thalia with her new Hero arm. She’s the youngest person we’ve ever babysat.”
For more information about or to support the Open Bionics fundraising campaign, please visit openbionics.com.
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