Father Turns to Social Media for Prosthetic for Ballet-Loving Daughter

The father of a 15-year-old amputee ballet dancer has made an appeal on social media in pursuit of a prosthetic leg attachment that would allow his daughter to dance en pointe.

Telegraph journalist Christopher Hope posted the footage of his daughter Pollyanna on Twitter, asking if anyone could help make the pointe attachment for her.

Among the replies on Twitter were users offering contact information for prosthetics manufacturers and fellow amputee ballet dancers who may be able to help.

Hope told the BBC that the reaction to the appeal was “amazing”.

“Social media gets quite a bad rep, [but the reaction] is an indication that there are actually really nice people out there who want to help,” Hope said.

Pollyanna lost her right leg below the knee in a bus crash when she was two years old. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Panton, was killed and her mother badly injured when a bus mounted the pavement in south London, The Times said.

The family run an amputee charity in Panton’s memory. Credit: Sapphire Hope via Storyful