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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Jordan Reynolds & Graeme Murray

Girl, 15, desperate for £13,000 bionic arm so she can finally learn to play guitar

A £13,000 bionic arm plea has been made for a girl so she can finally learn to play guitar.

Teenager Keeley Bexton was born without a right hand and her mum wants her to have a bionic arm fitted which will boost her confidence and allow her to pursue her career,

It would also mean the 15-year-old, who has no limb from the elbow down, could finally play guitar.

BirminghamLive reports Michelle has now launched a GoFundMe appeal to raise the £13,000 needed for a 'Hero Arm'.

Her mum said the 15-year-old teenager is now home-schooled after struggling in education.

She said the prosthetic bionic limb would help both her confidence and career as Keeley wants to become a lawyer in the future.

Michelle (L) and Keeley (R) chat about the arm which will allow her to play guitar (Martin O'Callaghan / Birmingham Live)

More than £700 has so far been raised towards the target.

Michelle of Wolverhampton said: "We found out at the 20-week scan, they couldn't find her right arm.

"When she was born I was so scared to touch her. She was about one when she had her first NHS prosthetic arm, just as people were staring.

"As she's grown up we've had to have a few adaptions. She's suffered a lot.

"She broke her leg in junior school and because she's missing her right arm we had to have a hospital bed downstairs and she had to be in a wheelchair for six months.

Roxy the dog getting involved with Michelle Bexton and her teenage daughter Keeley (Martin O'Callaghan / Birmingham Live)

"She's now been home-schooled for eight months, she struggled at school. She previously had an arm fitted so she could grab things but it had a strap around her and gave her a rash and burnt her.

"Keeley told me about the Hero Arm, she'd been following an ambassador on social media.

"We got an appointment with her doctor in Birmingham, we sat there and she said 'I know what you want', she said you can have this arm and we were so excited and we got transport to Bristol to get the ball rolling, then we found out you can't get them on the NHS.

"We created a fundraising page, Keeley is so excited. We need to raise £13,000. It would completely change her, she would be back to the confident Keeley she used to be.

It will cost £13,000 for the 'Hero Arm' to be fitted to Keeley's right limb (Martin O'Callaghan / Birmingham Live)

"It would help in her career, she wants to be a lawyer and she wants to play the guitar, it would really help with day-to-day things as well.

"She used to be very bubbly but she's gone very quiet and withdrawn. She's got no friends, she doesn't go out and socialise with anybody at all."

The Hero Arm will be built by Open Bionics which takes 3D scan before making the arm.

Sensors within it detect muscle movements, meaning users can control their bionic hand with "life-like precision".

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