The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Bionic arm fund £7k short
Push to finance artificial limb for aspiring chef nears its target
An aspiring Shetland chef who lost his arm to a rare cancer is close to raising the funds for a bionic replacement.
After a scan revealed a tumour on his wrist, Joseph Williamson had his arm amputated above the elbow.
Doctors said that without the surgery at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the 27-year-old could have died.
However, Mr Williamson, from Lerwick, is determined that will not put and end to his dreams.
He needs to raise £42,000 to afford a replacement bionic arm, which would give him the same functions as an ablebodied person.
The GoGetFunding page set up by his sister Gillian, 37, is now just £7,000 shy of its goal.
Mr Williamson, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2011, said: “I had days to get my head around it and then I was taken into theatre. “I was devastated. “I knew my life would change but I just had to get on with it.
“The main thing was that I was still alive and I just had to adapt to doing things with my left hand.”
Now, so close to the fundraising target, Mr Williamson said: “The new device will connect to my upper arm and give me the change to transform my life.
“I’ll be able to tie my shoelaces, write and put on a belt – little things people take for granted.”
T h e d i s c o v e r y b o n e s a r c o m a – o f a cancer untreatable by chemotherapy or radiotherapy – when he was just 20-years-old was, at the time, shattering to Mr Williamson’s hopes of becoming a chef.
His diagnosis came shortly after he had finally rid himself of other health problems. When he was younger, he caught a virus that caused inflammation in his brain that led to seizures.
However, the advanced bionic arm would allow him to grip objects and potentially fulfil that dream at last.
He said: “I’ve always loved cooking but, since losing my arm, it has become pretty much impossible.
“Simple things like chopping vegetables and preparing nice meals have become an obstacle.
“Having a bionic arm will now give me my life back.”
Gillian said: “Joseph has been through so much and he never complains. He just gets on with things.
“He’s coped so well with one hand but we know this could give him the life and career he has dreamed of.” Luke Skywalker has sent his congratulations to an 11-year-old Star Wars super fan after he was the first in the world to receive a BB-8-inspired bionic arm cover.
Actor Mark Hamill tweeted the special message to Cameron Miller, from Edinburgh, who was born without a right arm.
Open Bionics, which manufactures the Hero Arm, shared a video of Cameron unboxing the new covers and giving a thumbs up the camera, adding they were “really, really cool”.
The young fan’s cover is in the style of droid character BB-8, who appears in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi
Sharing the video, Hamill tweeted: “Congratulations to you for @OpenBionics getting you that really, really cool bionic Hero Arm, Cameron.