Technology, Charity Give Toddler a Hand

Metro Detroit parents are expecting a healthy baby girl, but little Annabelle is born without a forearm and hand. However, technology and charity are pairing to make sure she can now hold on with two hands.

What's happening in a Sterling Heights backyard is remarkable. Two-year-old Annabelle is holding onto her swing with two hands. That's pretty amazing for the little girl born without a forearm.

Until she was born, no one knew that Annabelle was missing her forearm and hand. After the initial shock, Michelle and Dave knew they would do everything they could to give their baby girl a normal life.

"You worry about the challenges your child is going to face and with us, we started thinking of it in terms of how can we help her to do everything she needs to in life," said mother Michelle Murphy.

The Murphys decide to get annabelle a prosthetic arm. At six months, she starts wearing one to develop muscles and get the sensation of having two arms.

Now, thanks to incredible technology, Annabelle has not just an arm and a hand, but little fingers that she can move. It's called a myoelectric arm, complex technology that even a 2 1/2 year old can appreciate.

"In the morning when she gets up, she asks for her arm by saying 'arm, arm' and, at night, we take it off before she goes to be and she typically says 'night, night' to her arm," Murhpy said.

The Michigan Institute for Electronic Limb Development in Livonia is a place that specializes in making prosthetics for infants and children. This is little hands come to life.

A microprocessor amplifies the slightest signal from the muscle, and the muscle is there even if the arm is not.

"The muscles that were supposed to operate the arm are still there, it's just they don't have a job to do," said prosthetic researcher Carl Brenner.

The myoelectric limbs can cost up to $20,000, which is where the Variety Children's Charity comes in. The Southfield-based charity has created a myoelectric center to help children all over the country by paying for the prosthetics and the other critical component, therapy.

DMC Therapist Jeff Krause has been key in helping to teach Annabelle how to play like a regular kid. "As a kid, her occupation is playing and being a kid," he said. "So, I'm working towards getting her to be able to use both hands, the prostheses included, and being a kid, and that's playing. As she gets older, the occupation changes, being more school-aged things, you know, cutting, using scissors, things that she would get in school."

As she grows, Annabelle will get an arm that will match her in size. In fact, there is a limb bank created at the institute to make sure these prosthetics are used again once outgrown. In the meantime, the Murphys keep counting their blessings.

"You always think that you'll see your child running down the hallway with two books, and when we saw Annabelle doing that, we felt really lucky," Murphy said.

If you would like to learn more about the Variety Myoelectric Center, visit www.variety-detroit.com/myoelectric.htm .