Crowdfunder Bev is all set for bionic arm

Beverley Gormley, 48, has raised £12,300 by crowdfunding to pay for supply and fitting of a fully moving arm, created by Open Bionics of Bristol.

Born without a left arm below the elbow, Beverley launched her campaign in September after enduring numerous inferior or painful prosthetics over the years

“It really holds me back and makes me self conscious,” she said. “I want to be able to do the little things that most people take for granted.”

She is overwhelmed by the response: “I am very, very excited,” she said.

“I go to Bristol on February 2 to pick it up, where I’ll have a bit of training and will also be able to thank one of the major donors, the Worshipful Company of Glovers.”

Over 200 donors include the Douglas Bader Foundation and Grimsby Roller Derby - who did a 26 mile challenge.

Beverley explained: “There are electrodes inside the arm socket that pick up the electrical signals in my muscles, so when I tense the tiny residual muscle that would have opened or closed my hand the same thing happens with the bionic arm.

“The finger joints are connected by thin wires to a small motor inside the arm.”

She says it is sad people like her have to crowdfund as the technology is not available on the NHS. She works as a heritage project manager and is a founding member of Team GB Junior Roller Derby, coaching an under 18 team to the junior world cup.

She said: “I want to use this bionic arm for good and will be spreading disability awareness and inclusion to the younger generation. I also want to help parents who are expecting babies with a limb difference and children who are born like me to see that nothing will hold them back. Their limb difference can be their super power.”