Bude boy to get bionic arm after fundraising campaign

Jayden said he was "very excited" about receiving a bionic arm

A boy is to receive a "life-changing" bionic arm after a successful fundraising campaign.

Jayden, 10, from Bude, Cornwall, was born with what he calls a "little arm".

His family said the limb difference, to his left arm, was due to amniotic band syndrome.

He had been entitled to a basic NHS prosthetic, but his family decided to raise more than £13,000 for a motorised arm.

The syndrome is a rare condition where stray bands of tissue wrap around the limbs of an unborn baby and cut off blood flow.

The 3D-printed motorised arm performs movements controlled by the user's muscles, allowing them to grip items such as a cup of tea or a tennis ball.

Jayden, who has tried on the technology with a prosthetist, has learned to use inactive muscles during training sessions.

After completing the initial exercises, he will receive his bionic arm during a final appointment later in May.

When he gets his new arm, Jayden, who is a keen footballer, wants to use it when he plays goalkeeper.

The 3D-printed motorised arm performs movements controlled by the user's muscles

"When I was first told I was getting it, I was very excited," he said.

"It will help me a lot."

His mother, Rebecca, said the arm would give him the chance "to be confident" in his own skin.

"It's been difficult at times for him growing up - and not even just people staring," she said.

"It's finding ways to do things that we all find easy to do, like tying your shoes or cutting up food, just all the simple little things we take for granted.

"It's going to give Jayden so much more confidence in himself and find an easier way of doing everyday things.

"It will just change his life in so many ways."

The 3D-printed motorised arm performs movements controlled by Jayden's muscles

Rebecca said: "We were offered a mannequin arm basically [from the NHS], and we need something that's going to work for Jayden and not something that's just going to sit there."

With the family unable to afford the bionic arm, she said she was "shocked" at how quickly the community of Bude responded to a fundraising appeal launched in November 2022.

She added: "I wasn't expecting it to be done.

"We're really thankful to everybody that's donated and everybody that's helped us along the way. Everybody pulled together."