Campaign for new arm so boy can tie his shoelaces

A boy from Bridgwater is raising money to help buy a bionic arm.

Seven year old Brodie was born with one hand and a "lucky fin", which is what he calls his small hand.

He said he wants to be able to climb monkey bars, use a knife and fork, put his own toothpaste on his toothbrush and tie up shoelaces.

"My lucky fin is a very small hand. I have half a palm, I have no fingers," Brodie told the BBC.

Brodie and his mum call his hand a "lucky fin"

His mum Naomi added that the idea for calling it a "lucky fin" came from the Pixar film 'Finding Nemo'.

"Nemo has a very small fin and it was always called his lucky fin so I thought to put a nice name onto it," she said.

"He's always been a very strong character. You do see when we go to say soft play and there's children who don't know him, they do ask him questions.

"We always tell him there's nothing wrong with it, it's just how he's born. It knocks his confidence, especially monkey bars because he is so sporty."

Brodie and his family are now fundraising £20,000 for an Open Bionics Hero Arm which comes in Marvel designs for children.

Brodie's favourite Marvel character is Iron Man, he said.

Naomi explained that the NHS would only offer an operation which turns some of his toes into his fingers.

"I didn't want to change him physically," Naomi explained. "I always brought him up to love him for who he is. It just wouldn't help him the way a bionic arm would."