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Rinae Hedgebad, nine years old, contracted meningitis at the age of five and lost both her legs, her left arm under her elbow and the fingers and thumbs of her right hand.
A brave nine-year-old girl who has had three limbs amputated dreams of getting a £ 10,000 bionic "hero" arm to be able to dress alone.
Rinae Hedgebad, of Eccles, in Greater Manchester, contracted life-threatening meningitis at the age of five and lost both her legs, her left arm under her elbow and fingers and thumbs of her hand right.
After having shown incredible courage in her recovery, Rinae now dreams of having a bionic arm, manufactured by the company Open Bionics, in Bristol, to help her seize objects, to dress and to achieve a level of independence.
However, although UK manufacturing technology is recently available in France, Rinae is currently unable to receive it on the NHS.
The bionic "hero arms" are the first clinically approved prostheses of this type in Britain and allow precise and delicate movements that all other prosthetic hands can not achieve.
According to Open Bionics, the cost of the limited, bulky and heavy NHS option is about the same as that of the hero arm.
A Just Giving page dedicated to crowdfunding the £ 10,000 prosthesis has already raised more than £ 800 from 44 members.
The 39-year-old unmarried father and bricklayer John Hedgebad asks the NHS to allow his daughter Rinae and other Britons to access technology that would "change her life".
He said: "Rinae just wants to be independent.
"She is coming to the age where she wants to be able to dress and she can not with what the NHS has provided.
"She's incredibly suited to her situation, but the existing technology is significantly better than the one offered by our health service.
Rinae's father, John, 39 (both pictured), asks the NHS to allow his daughter and other British to access the "bionic" hero's weapons
The bionic arms allow precise and delicate movements that other prosthetic hands can not achieve (Tilly Lockey, 13, Open Bionics Ambbadador, with her hero arms)
"The government should allow children who are in the same situation as my daughter to have access to the best care available.
"That would completely change Rinae's life."
The little girl, who was "fit and healthy" before her horrible condition was diagnosed in 2015, only had more than 24 hours to live after being rushed to the hospital – after her death. 39 to be complaining of his "pains" while playing with his friends on his trampoline.
Despite the poor prospects of the doctors, Rinae struggled with this disease and, four years later, she completed enough physiotherapy sessions to use a prosthetic arm.
However, the NHS provided Rinae with a "plastic arm" that has no functionality and was compared to a "manikin member" by her father.
Oxandre Peckeu, a 12-year-old boy, has become the first person in France to benefit from the life-changing bionic prosthesis, while Rinae is struggling with a "heavy and bulky" plastic arm from the NHS.
Rinae has completed enough physiotherapy sessions to use the prosthetic limbs.
Mr. Hedgebad began collecting £ 10,000 worth of funds to pay for the "Bionic Arm" of Open Bionics (photo: a version of the Hero Arm inspired by Star Wars BB-8)
Tilly Lockey, 13, is an Open Bionics ambbadador and has been testing her technology for two years.
Her mother, Sarah, said her family had always been tasked with procuring weapons on the NHS, adding: "It's great for France but I really want England to be the first to bring Hero Arm into our healthcare system, since Open Bionics is a UK based company and our British kids must enjoy it.
I hope that England will follow up now.
Mr Hedgebad started raising £ 10,000 worth of funds to pay for the "bionic arm" of Open Bionics.
Rinae was playing with friends at her home in April 2015 when she began to feel as if her body was hurting her.
Of course, Mr. Hedgebad thought that this was due to the activity and Rinae went to bed as usual, but the next morning she woke up with extreme temperature and her father was saw blisters of blood on his skin.
The health service provided Rinae with a "plastic arm" (shown) that has no functionality
According to Open Bionics, the cost of the limited, bulky and heavy NHS option is approximately the same as that of Hero Arm (pictured).
The prosthetic arm of Rinae is very impractical because no finger moves, so they can not support it when she writes. Rinae can only write without the rigid arm
Mr. Hedgebad said: "My nephew has had meningitis in the past, so I immediately saw the warning signs.
& # 39; The alarm bells roared in my mind. & # 39;
Rinae was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital for the first tests before worried doctors transferred her to Liverpool Alder Hey Hospital.
Upon arrival, Mr. Hedgebad learned the terrible news that she had contracted meningitis and had only 24 hours to live.
Mr. Hedgebad added, "I remember the exact moment. I thought I was living in a kind of dream, I could not believe it. & # 39;
Rinae, who has a twin brother Rico and an older sister, Chelsea, 16, has been in intensive care for six months.
Rinae has followed years of physiotherapy to allow her to use prosthetic legs (photo: M. Hedgebad helps Rinae to put her prosthetic legs)
The bionic arms (photo) are the first medically approved prosthesis of this type in Britain.
She was connected to three machines that pumped fresh blood all around her body during her incredible recovery.
Rinae has been following physiotherapy for years to be able to use prostheses. Last month, the NHS gave him a "plastic arm".
Despite the delivery of the prosthesis, Rinae sees a distraction due to lack of functionality and the dream of being able to have her own "hero's arm" like the other children she saw in the news.
Mr. Hedgebad added, "All she wants is a little bit of independence. What it lacks most is to be able to grasp things.
"She's so well adapted to what she's had, but it would change her life and allow her to do everything that any other child can do."
Samantha Payne, chief operating officer and co-founder of Open Bionics, said the company "would like" the NHS to offer this technology.
Single father Mr. Hedgebad, a bricklayer, began raising money for the £ 10,000 needed to pay for the "bionic arm" (photo: Rinae's current prosthetic arm)
Samantha Payne, operations director and co-founder of Open Bionics, said the company "would like" the NHS to offer technology (photo: a man uses the hero's arm to take an apple)
She said, "We have worked very hard to get an affordable device, which is acceptable for the existing NHS budgets for the provision of prostheses.
"We have been working with the NHS since the beginning of our development and the clinicians have been incredibly supportive.
"Unfortunately, the NHS policy change is not keeping pace with technological improvements."
Rinae's father said that she wanted to be able to dress but that she could not with what the NHS had provided (photo: Rinae with her prosthetic legs)
Samantha said the company would be launched in the US next month and that weapons were currently available on the French health system.
She added, "We fully support Rinae and her family in their fundraising efforts.
"We know of a few children who have successfully funded their bionic hands and who have been equipped with private health care in the UK.
"We very much hope that the NHS will see the usefulness of these devices and start offering them to people who need them, as in France.
"We have collected data through our private healthcare users to help the NHS gather evidence of clinical validation of the device.
"We are also engaged in a clinical trial with the NHS.
"We have a waiting list of amputees who can not afford private health care until the device is available via the NHS and we are delighted to provide them with a Hero arm at the 39; future. "
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