An eight-year-old boy is the world’s youngest person to be fitted with a bionic ‘hero arm’.
Freddie Cook celebrated becoming a medical marvel by eating his favourite burger with two hands for the first time.
The lad was given his new arm days before his eighth birthday and was thrilled to be able to pick up his beloved hamburger — with added ketchup — at his birthday party.
The arm is the first medically approved prosthesis in Britain which allows for precise and delicate movements that other prosthetic hands cannot do.
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The device weighs less than a bag of sugar and has enabled active Freddie — who was born without a right hand — to be able to grip the handlebars of his favourite scooter and climb with his friends.
He has even enjoyed playing with a toy with his pet dog Lacie.
Last week, he carried both his book bag and lunchbox out of the school gates - shouting to his mum, Suzy Cook, ‘Look what I can do now mum!’.
Suzy, 42, said the device has completely changed the life of her son.
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She said: “It is brilliant. Freddie has become much more conscious about his hand recently so this is incredible, he really wanted to be able to eat a burger just like all of his friends.
“As soon as he put on the arm he realised what to do, it was immediate. It will change his life.”
Freddie lives with Suzy, his sister Megan, 12, and Suzy’s fiancee Nathan Darlick, 43, and was fitted with the £10k arm which was self-funded by his family.
He has been described as a ‘tech pioneer’ by Open Bionics — the company who create the ‘hero arms’ — as the world’s youngest user of a multi-grip bionic arm.
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When Freddie was born Suzy was told by private doctors it would be ‘over 20 years’ before technology became available which could replicate the movements of fingers.
However, Freddie’s dream was fitted with the bionic limb on March 28 — two days before his eighth birthday.
The budding youngster had tried a prosthetic hand in the past but Suzy described it as ‘doll-like’ with no movement.
Finally Suzy spotted Tilly Lockey — a 12-year-old girl who is the ambassador for Open Bionics and recipient of two ‘hero’ arms — on Good Morning Britain and realised this prosthetic was exactly what her son needed.
She said: “We had already begun the process of looking into private options but I remember spotting Tilly on television.
“She could do so much with her hands. I never thought at that stage anything could be done because of his age.
“When I found out Open Bionics decided to take him on as the youngest in the world I could not believe it.”
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