A mum who used to avoid having her picture taken due to missing half an arm from birth has now become a model. Hayley O’Dwyer, 31, was born with a limb difference which meant her right arm ended at the elbow.
Although she was grateful to receive them, NHS prosthetics used to make her feel self-conscious, having described them as clunky and difficult to wear. However, her confidence started to bloom upon discovering Open Biotics, who create bionic arms using a 3D scan of the limb to design the prosthetic.
They provided Hayley with a black bionic ‘hero’ arm, paving the way for her modelling venture. She signed a contract with a diverse modelling agency, and the mum-of-one said: “I’ve got a little boy – he's only two and doesn’t know any different - and he tells everyone I’m some sort of special transformer.
“I thought if I’m going to make a statement about it and step into loving it, I might as well go for a black one and it’s given me the most confidence I’ve ever had in my life. It’s something I needed to see and something a lot of people in the world should see and be educated on a bit better.
“When I was younger, I didn’t see it when I might have needed to.” Hayler, from Westcliff-on-sea in Essex, had previously used cosmetic prosthetics since she was three-years-old.
However, as a child she felt she could do more without them. It wasn’t until her teenage years when she began wearing the prosthetic limbs due to her clothes not fitting properly, with it subsequently impacting her confidence.
This led to her continuing to disguise her arm by wearing long sleeves, not wanting to draw attention to herself. “When I was younger, I never used to wear any sort of prosthetic," she continued. "It used to gross me out and I couldn’t stand it, I could do more without it and it got in the way.
“However, I have had them made since I was three-years-old, I've had ones that move and ones that don’t. The ones that move used to come with wires - when I was in little school they would wrap the wires around me and I wouldn’t want to wear it.
“When I reached secondary school, it knocked my confidence a bit so I wore it but I was never really confident with it. I just wore it for cosmetic reasons as it balanced me out – I didn’t want the attention, didn’t want all eyes on me.”
Her outlook completely changed when she found Open Bionics several years ago, with the now-31-year-old wanting her own ‘hero arm’. It took until March earlier this year for Hayley to reach out to them and enquire about their particular prosthetics.
She was told prices began at £10,000, which was out of her price range. As a result, they passed her on to their company fundraiser who helps people access the technology.
£9,000 was raised within two weeks, with the total being reached courtesy of a charity who made up the difference. With her new bionic arm, Hayley claims it has given her “the most confidence she's ever had”.
She added: “It probably only took three months and then I went and picked it up. They booked an appointment to go and see if it was right for me – they have a dummy one you try out.
“I got the go ahead for the funding and then went back for training to operate it by brain signals and muscle movement. They measured the length of my other arm and I picked out what I wanted – you can have whatever colour you want and kids can have Spider-Man or Frozen designs.
“I just got an all-black one – I thought if I’m going to make a statement about it and step into loving it, I might as well go for a black one and it’s given me the most confidence I’ve ever had in my life.”
After being spotted on Instagram, Hayley was scouted to work with charity Models of Diversity. Despite first being initially contacted five years ago, she always declined the opportunity, but her mindset changed with the addition of her new arm.
Upon attending a modelling workshop, she found the experience left her feeling “confident and uplifted”. The charity then suggested she should reach out to an inclusive talent agency, who, following a meeting, signed her up as a model.
Her short stint as a model has already provided her with the opportunity to walk down the runway for designer JU-NNA at London Fashion Week 2022. “I didn’t used to like getting my photo done and would prefer to do it myself," said Hayley.
“But after I did some taster workshops I left feeling more confident – it was a really wholesome experience. Models of Diversity also set up London Fashion Week - [they] called me and said Fashion Scout wanted to cast me to run in a show.
"I'm the first disabled model they ever casted and walked in a show with designer JU-NNA. It made me feel proud and I was honoured to be a part of it - it was a lot of fun."
