Symbrachydactyly: Bionic arm hopes for girl from Wymondham

A girl born with a rare condition meaning she has no working fingers on her left hand just wants to be "on a level playing field" with her friends, her parents said.

Caitlin Hutson, six, from Norfolk, has symbrachydactyly - five "fingers" but they have no bones - and parents Terry and Maria call it her "little hand".

She has learned to do many things, but wants to be like her friends.

Her parents hope to raise £13,000 to buy her a "bionic" prosthetic arm.

"She surprised us by being born a month prematurely, and then she surprised us again with her little hand," her mother Maria, who said they refer to her fingers as "nubbins".

"Caitlin's not really known any different, because she was born like that - she just gets on and does things."

When she first started school Caitlin was shy about her limb difference, and would hide her hand up her sleeve, her mother said.

But now she has "a great group of friends and a very supportive school".

Her father said the family "doesn't see this as a disability".

"We haven't found anything that she can't do - it might take her a little longer, but she can do it," he said.

A bionic arm would "make things a lot easier and a lot quicker for her... and simply puts her back on a more level playing field with others now and in the future".

She has had prosthetics from the NHS with one fixed to her bicycle that she can slip her arm into, and one which makes both arms the same length so she can do cartwheels - she loves acrobatics - but others have proved not "robust" enough to enable simple tasks like using cutlery.

"She can do everything in her own way," Mrs Hutson said.

"She finds a way just to do the things her peers do."

But little things can prove difficult - doing up her coat, unwrapping an ice cream - "but we try not to make too many adaptations", mum explained.

"I think a bionic arm will help enormously with her self-confidence as she grows," she said.

"It breaks our hearts when we see her struggle and we do our best to not just jump in and help her out, which is so difficult sometimes, but we know it will only make her more frustrated.

"At the same time we are so proud of her perseverance in never giving up trying to do something."

They have set up a Go Fund Me page hoping to raise enough for a "bionic" arm, called a Hero Arm, made by the Open Bionics Foundation, based in Bristol.

The prosthetic limbs allow the user to control an electronic hand by sensors connected to arm muscles.

Caitlin has already been to the headquarters where the flexibility of her wrist and size of her arm made her a suitable candidate.

Her family, from Wymondham, hoped to raise the funds by August when appointments for potential fittings have been made.

And what is one of the things Caitlin wants to do when she gets her bionic arm?

"I'd like to brush my hair and dry my hair at the same time," she said.