Así es el día a día de la superheroína con manos biónicas
Tilly Lockey #bionicallybeautiful recently flew out to Madrid, Spain to be a spokeperson, role model and hopefully a future Ambassador of the Inspiring Girl’s charity. During her 2 day visit to the country (Spain seems to be falling in love with her) she was immediately interviewed after arriving by RTVE journalist María Eizaguirre for the newspaper 20minutos, the 3rd most read general information daily publication in Spain. María is currently interviewing well known role model women and girls that can inspire and be an example for the girls, such as Tilly, Greta Thunberg, Melinda Gates etc. Women and girls that have an Inspiring life or message to share with them.
The interview for 20 Minutos newspaper (both filmed and documented) was captured to promote the event that she was to attend the next day ‘Unbeatable and Human’ as well as other interviews for National newspapers such as La Razon. On Wednesday 3rd July Tilly attended the Inspiring Girls event and was an inspirational speaker alongside Gema Hassen-Bay (Paralympic fencing medallist), Fabia Silva founder of Dronak (a company manufacturing remotely controlled robots) who undertook a drone exhibition, Autofabricantes: Rosalía González (Design Engineer) and Lidia Contreras (Physiotherapist, occupational therapist)
We hope this is just the start of Tilly’s journeys to Spain (and other countries globally) to work with this incredible charity and other amazing people/organisations. Below is the interview in today’s (04-07-2019) La Razon newspaper, we have translated the article from Spanish – English using Google Translate, this is the article:
At 16 months Tilly Lockey lost her hands. Carry an endless prosthesis. «I was afraid of the first ones. I did not like them. Now, I can hold very fine objects and make up. "
The futuristic design of its bionic arms gives it an air of superheroine. Recall, in part, the style of the «X-Man» or «The Fantastic 4», although they are inspired by a more recent film: «Alita: Battle Angel». His first years of life, like that of all the science fiction heroes, was not easy. With only 16 months, Tilly Lockey contracted a terrible type of meningitis that made him lose his hands. Specifically, meningococemia, a disease that almost ends his life. His hands and the tips of his toes were "stained" with black, so the doctors, to save her, amputated the necrotic parts to give it a chance. Opportunity that Tilly, the first girl with bionic hands, has been able to make the most of. He is an example. In fact, yesterday, she came to Madrid, from the Inspiring Girls Foundation and BBVA, to give her testimony with the aim of helping other girls to achieve their dreams by many stones that are on the way. Before the event "Imbatibles y Humanas. In adversity they found their strength ", the youngest one explains how she changed her life thanks to the support of her family and the bionic hands printed in 3D that she received.
"I do not remember being in the hospital, but I have a memory before losing my hands: I was in my old house and my sister handed me a tomato and told me to try it. It was the first time I ate a tomato and let's say I did not like it, because I took it with my right hand, I bit it and I threw it on the ground, "he says.
Her first artificial hands were put at two years. They had nothing to do with the bionics (of Open Bionics) that it carries now. «The first ones made me feel like a puppet. I had a harness connected to the hands that passed through the upper part of my body. Depending on how I moved my shoulders or arms made the three hooks that were the fingers closed. I was afraid of my hands, I did not like them, I could not handle them and they did not serve me. Now, instead, I can easily control my hands with my muscles. I love them, they help me and I know they are only going to improve ». In addition, «they look like superheroine. They make me feel really strong and confident. They are personalized, you can get to ask for lights and many other great features. Now I feel like I could be in a superhero movie! "
Before them, Tilly could not do many things. Now, instead, "I feel like I can do most things. Something that impressed me was that I can hold very thin and small objects like makeup brushes. They are very easy to use as you get used to them. And it's amazing how accurate they are. "
How do they work She can manipulate small or large things, such as picking up an apple or a cup, painting and even putting on makeup herself. Its operation is simple, at least for her: "There are muscular sensors in the inner part of the arm that are sensitive to the strength of the user. They work just like a human hand would do, I guess you just do not realize you're doing it. Basically, I squeeze my muscles to close my hand and flex to open it. If I flex again I can change the grip. There are four positions: the fist, the grip, the pinch and the grip of the tripod, which allow me to do different things ».
"What I can not do is really complicated manual tasks for me like tying my shoelaces or picking my hair. But these hands are what Open Bionics created five years ago. Think about where we will be in five others! "She says excitedly.
The best of them is "the way in which the lives of amputees are changing, but also what I like the most is how attractive they are! They are no longer just a medical device, but a truly incredible fashion accessory. " And is that technology and design need not be at odds, and less in these cases, where the physical aspect can make them feel more secure. The problem in most cases is its price. Although she was given "20th Century Fox, specifically by James Cameron and Jon Landau, she knows that its price is high, although" they are the cheapest in the market. They are expensive, but those before, which were not even wide enough to hold a cup, cost 32,464 pounds and now a hand that does what you want is much cheaper. I think mine are around 10,000 pounds. "
A price that, although it has fallen, is still prohibitive for many families, especially for minors, since "they last a year or two if you are a minor and you are still growing. But there is one really good thing, and that is that they grow with you in some way, "explains Tilly, who wants to dedicate herself to" inspire people to do something with their lives "when they grow up. Something that, despite his youth, already does. And he wants to "continue working in bionic hands until they are as good or better than human."
It encourages all amputees to try them, although before having a prosthesis, as explained by Lidia Contreras, physiotherapist, "you have to take into account posture and function. Adding a prosthesis is adding weight and adding an extension to the body that previously did not exist, therefore a good previous preparation is important. Thus, work should be done on postural symmetry, strengthen the whole trunk musculature and create awareness of symmetrical postures. In addition, all the musculature must be prepared to support the extra load that the prosthesis supposes and to which the body is not accustomed. These aspects should be worked on more intensively in the months before the prosthesis. " Once with them, "in addition to continuing with these objectives, you have to train their use, with more global activities and movements and fine-tuning as you take skill to get more complex tasks. All this requires a lot of work and perseverance, and hours of dedication, "recalls the physiotherapist.
«It is an inspiration for anyone but, especially, for girls because they will have to face many moments of doubt in the coming years and they will have to decide how to focus their life and career, and there have such a powerful testimony of self-confidence and The effort is truly inspiring, they will never forget it, "says Marta Pérez Dorao, president of the Inspiring Girls Foundation.
To view the article on La Razon please visit: https://www.larazon.es/sociedad/asi-es-el-dia-a-dia-de-la-superheroina-con-manos-bionicas-LF24037826
For more information on Inspiring Girls please visit https://www.inspiring-girls.es/
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