The bionic reverend: 6-year-old finds his dad a new arm
He’s been dubbed the bionic reverend.
Sixteen years after losing his right arm in a car crash, vicar Daniel Cant could hug his three children with two arms for the first time.
“The tears, the joy and absolute speechlessness. They've never known me to have two limbs"
His prayers were answered by his six-year-old son Aaron who discovered the prosthetic arm online that would change his father’s life.
"One morning we heard Aaron shouting from downstairs, it was a Saturday actually…he was very jubilant. On investigating we found him sat on the sofa with his tablet and he said 'I've found it, I've found it. I've googled 'Dad's Hero Arms' and he'd stumbled across a company called Open Bionics which are the developers and manufacturers of this particular arm."
REPORTER QUESTION: Tell my why you searched the words "Dad's, Hero, Arm'?
AARON SAYING: "I searched those words because I wondered what Daddy could do with two arms?"
DANIEL CANT: "I just wanted to give Aaron the biggest hug ever, and Leanne and Holly and Jacob. // to come home from Open Bionics and open the door and just give Aaron that hug was….there are no words."
Aaron found the bionic 'Hero Arm' from British company Open Bionics.
The technology uses sensors which detect contractions generated from specific muscle groups in the arm.
These are then amplified and converted to intuitive and proportional bionic hand movements.
"So myoelectric is an electronic arm that works of a series of motors and a battery and it basically picks up signals from the limb difference, so the amputation stump. To operate the hand we make two movements which is the opening and closing of the wrist and then to change different settings we have a button here that we press. So if I was to demonstrate and open my wrist, you get this movement. So, exactly what you'd have if you had a hand. And if I was to close the wrist... so, it's so simple."
"Literally within our first meeting, within half an hour of just placing the electrodes and sensors on there was function. The first time I was actually able to open and close a hand was just incredible."
At the moment Cant is training for priesthood and hopes to be ordained later this year.
"I must admit I spent a lot of time hiding myself and having my arm behind my back when I'm talking to people, not wanting to draw attention. But bionics and being 'bionic', I've been dubbed 'the bionic Rev', I believe it's the most empowering language I've seen around disability."
