Thalia Coultas is getting the perfect Christmas present this year – the chance to open her gifts on her own for the first time.
The seven-year-old is the youngest person in the UK to be fitted with a special bionic hand, meaning she’ll now be able to eat her Christmas dinner unaided too.
Thalia, who was born with her left hand missing, has asked her parents for a bionic hand since she turned four.
Usually the prostheses are never fitted before the age of eight because of the muscle strength needed to operate the bionic opening and closing mechanisms.
Thalia Coultas, 7, is the youngest person in UK to be fitted with a bionic hand
She was born missing her left hand and now she will be able to eat her Christmas dinner and open her presents on her own
However, experts at Open Bionics decided to allow Thalia to try the device a year early, and she was fitted with the £11,000 hand last month.
Thalia’s mother Kerrie, 40, said: ‘Her new bionic hand is amazing. She is absolutely thrilled by it.
She can’t stop picking things up. ‘She can’t wait to open her presents on Christmas Day.
She’ll be able to rip them open for the first time and to be able to eat her Christmas dinner too – it will be the best present for us to see her do that.’
Mrs Coultas, who lives with her husband Wesley, 39, who is in the Royal Navy, and their elder daughter Savannah, nine, in Selby, North Yorkshire, was first told about Thalia’s hand during her 20-week scan.
She said: ‘The sonographer told me that she needed to get a doctor to come and check the scan. He then broke the news to me that her arm had stopped growing after the elbow.
‘I was just in shock at first, and couldn’t take it in. All I could think about was how she going to manage in life, and worrying that she was going to get teased at school.’
Since she was born, Thalia has had several prosthetic arms but nothing with a grip.
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The seven-year-old has asked her parents for a bionic hand since she turned four
The new bionic hand was partially funded by Open Bionics and through fundraising
Mrs Coultas said: ‘She was given a limb when she was younger, just for aesthetic purposes. It didn’t do anything.
‘Then she tried one that had a prong and a hook on the end, that had a strap around it that attached to her other arm. It didn’t suit her at all, so she had to adapt to life without it.’
From the age of four, Thalia’s biggest wish has been to have a bionic arm. Mrs Coultas said: ‘She would always say that she wanted an arm like a robot – it was always her one big wish.
‘We didn’t think she would be allowed to have it until aged eight at the earliest, but Open Bionics agreed that she could give it a try a year earlier.’
Thalia’s mother Kerrie Coultas said: ‘She would always say that she wanted an arm like a robot – it was always her one big wish’
The company, which is based in Bristol, develops 3D printed bionic arms for patients with below-the-elbow amputations.
Thalia was fitted with its new Hero arm, which uses the muscle cues from the rest of the arm to activate the bionic hand’s grip function.
It was partially funded by Open Bionics and through the family’s own fundraising.
Mrs Coultas added: ‘It’s amaz – ing – it’s changed her life. It has given Thalia the full use of a hand, and she’s beyond excited with it. It’s going to be the best Christmas ever.’
A spokesman for Open Bionics said: ‘We’re thrilled to see Thalia with her new Hero arm. She is the youngest person we have ever fitted.’
For more information on or to support Open Bionics’ fundraising campaign, visit openbionics.com.
