Cian's Crowdfunding for a Hero Arm

Hello everyone, I'm Zoe, Cian’s mam. Before I start I just wanted to thank everyone for their support so far on getting the ball rolling on the journey of getting Cian his very own Hero Arm.

So let's start from the very beginning. On my 20 week anomaly scan me and Jamie, Cian’s dad were told that the fingers on Cians right hand had not developed. After many more scans and hospital appointments we were told that Cian could have what was called ‘amniotic band syndrome’ which happens when the fibrous band of the amniotic sack gets tangled around a developing fetus. But still to this day we are unsure of what the actual cause was.

Fast forward until when Cian was 5 years old, myself and Jamie got in touch with the Cardiff Metropolitan University where Cian was very lucky to be one of the first little boys in Wales to receive a 3D printed prosthetic hand.

At first the prosthetic hand was amazing. To be able to see Cian pick things up with his right hand was so great to see but as time went on Cian found the prosthetic very uncomfortable. In order to move the fingers, Cian would have to move his wrist up and down to open and close the fingers and as Cian loved to wear his prosthetic out to play while riding his bike and scooter, as i'm sure you can image, holding his wrist down to keep the fingers gripped around the handlebars was very uncomfortable for Cian. Luckily the Hero Arm has a freeze application built into the hand so this would take away this issue.

Now let’s fast forward to the present day. Cian is now 11 years old and just about to start comprehensive school. Cian’s favourite things to do are playing on his Xbox, being out with his mates on his scooter and bike and he is also a fantastic football player. He plays for his local football team Ely Valley FC. Cian is also a massive supporter of Cardiff City Football Club and Manchester City Football Club. It would be great if we could get their support with our crowdfunding.

Cian would love to be more independent and after lots of research we found this fantastic company called Open Bionics who have what is called a Hero Arm. This is the perfect name as this Hero Arm would give our very own Hero Cian many more opportunities growing up into an adult. It would also help Cian have much more independence and help him grow with more confidence.

Thank you so much for any support you can give to make our boy's dream come true. Every penny raised and every share of our campaign to another person is truly appreciated.

I'm raising money for Cian's Hero Arm with the help of The Open Bionics Foundation and every donation made to this page will go towards paying towards Cian's Hero Arm. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

More information about The Open Bionics Foundation: The Open Bionics Foundation provides financial support to socioeconomically deprived people with limb differences who need multi-grip upper limb prosthetics.