British soldier fitted with new Bionic Arm
By ANIMonday, February 21, 2011
LONDON - Corporal Andrew Garthwaite (23), of the Queen’s Royal Lancers, has become Britain’s first military amputee to be fitted with a bionic arm.
The soldier had lost his right arm last September in a rocket-propelled grenade attack that killed another soldier.
He was fitted with the device at the Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak Hospitals in Birmingham, Sky News reports.
While speaking to the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), Garthwaite said: “When I first got hit and was in the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital I was thinking ‘oh God this is it, I can’t ride my bike again.”
“I was thinking of everything I couldn’t do. But then the prosthetist came from Headley Court to measure me for a new arm. “
“He said, We’ve got this new arm which will work for you and in the future there’s an operation called Target Nerve Reinnervation you will be able to receive - it won’t be as good as a normal arm but it will be the next best thing,”
“That put a bit of light in my face. Now, since I’ve got the first stage of it I’m a lot happier,” he added.
The prosthetic limb can be controlled using back and chest muscles.arthwaite’s progress will provide hope to many other military personnel who have lost their limbs fighting for their country. (ANI)
