The Big Hero 3 is back!! Due to the generosity of The Open Bionics Foundation, The Worshipful Company of The Glovers and an anonymous donor we have raised enough funds to purchase 2 Hero Arms. We have chosen 3 families from the recent LimbBo Foundation Acivity day to benefit from this opportunity and they need to work together to raise enough for one Hero Arm so that all 3 child benefit.

I would love to introduce to you Lennon, Caleb and Imogen who will be fundraising with their friends and families together to achieve their goal. Please support them in their journey.

Caleb

Hi, my name is Caleb, I was born with a limb difference. The Dr's don't know why but my arm just didn't grow any further than my forearm. I named my "stump" bubba from around the age of 3. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody for their kind donations towards a hero arm for myself and the other two children. This is an amazing opportunity to have and we are very grateful and excited!

I am a very fun lovable little boy, I have amazing resilience and I'm super brave. Some of my hobbies are rising my bike and scooter, I really like archery which I think my hero arm will help me with because I will be able to hold the bow properly with a hero arm.

I love spending time with my family, my mum, my dad and I have two brothers Damien who is 10 he is my big brother, and Elijah is 6 he's my little brother who comes to spend time with us at weekends, I also have a dog called dex he is my best friend.

I love going to the beach with my family and going bowling, they are two of my favourite things to do as well as family game nights together. I also like playing on my PlayStation and helping my mum making dinner.

I can't wait to do so many things once I have a hero arm, I think it will give me a lot more confidence in things that I do and it will make me a superhero! I can't wait to show everybody when I get it, and learn new things with it because I love learning new things.

Imogen

Our wonderful Imogen needs a helping hand! The day we discovered we were having a little girl at our 20-week scan was also the day we learned Imogen was missing her hand. It was a day filled with mixed emotions. We began to wonder how we would teach her various things. We had no answers.

Once Imogen was born, she quickly showed us exactly how she was going to do things. It all came so naturally to her. She always leads the way, and we are right behind her!

Imogen became so independent so quickly that we had to teach her that teamwork is important and asking for help is natural for everyone. She has no fear! She loves to try everything. Having a limb difference certainly doesn’t stop her ‘can do’ attitude!

However, Imogen has one wish: to know what it’s like to have two hands. Thanks to the Open Bionics Foundation, Imogen has been selected to participate in a campaign for a Hero Arm.

Here’s how it works: the charity selects three families. The charity then funds two Hero Arms, and the three families must raise enough to cover the cost of the third Hero Arm. Once we reach our target, all three children will receive their fantastic prosthetics.

Let’s make a wish come true.

Lennon

This is Lennon, our 9-year-old son from Huddersfield. He is a very determined boy who has always had a can-do mentality and takes everything in his stride. From riding a bike at 2, to playing football and cricket for local clubs, it seems he always wants to prove the doubters wrong… Only recently has he been asking ‘why am I different’ and ‘when will my arm grow’!!!

Lennon was born without his lower left arm from just below the elbow and over the years he has had various heavy prosthetics. The problem has been, is that none of them have been helpful to him and served little purpose other than to use as very effective ‘drumstick’.

Growing up, Lennon was often asked by other children ‘what happened to your arm?’ he would always make up some elaborate story of how it was bitten off by a shark or crocodile and just made light of his difference. This was inspiring for us as parents, and it seemed that we were the ones with the issue and not Lennon.

Having been part of the LimbBo Foundation since 2019, (a limb difference charity from Yorkshire) Lennon has met with the team at Open Bionics many times over the years, often at the LimbBo adventure days and has been waiting patiently for his opportunity for a ‘Bionic Arm’. He has asked us lots of times ‘when can I get an arm?’ as with most children, he just wants the chance to be ‘the same as everyone else’.

Lennon is a huge sportsman, he will have a go at any sports, rock-climbing, surfing, swimming, but in particular, he loves cycling, golf and plays Football for Netherton our local Under 10’s team on the left wing, a true playmaker. He scored 52 goals in his second season and was awarded a well-deserved ‘Player of the Year’ last season. He also plays cricket for Armitage Bridge Cricket Club, where this season he was awarded the bowler of the year. Lennon was even asked to play up a year in the under 11’s team on several occasions this year, which he loved and really boosted his confidence.

The Big Hero 3 is a massive opportunity for us as a family and Lennon is so excited to get involved and finally get his chance to wear a bionic arm. We are so proud of him and his attitude towards life, he just wants the chance to show us what he can do with two hands!!!

The Big Hero 3 will give him such a confidence boost, something which he has definitely suffered with over the last year or so. As a family, we are excited to meet up and work alongside the two other families who are joining us on this journey. It will be great to share our experiences and support each other through this life changing opportunity.

The families are raising money through The Open Bionics Foundation to benefit ALL 3 children - all donations will be split equally between all 3 children, and any donation will help make an impact.

Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to all of the children.

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.