Within an hour of putting on his new bionic arm, 11-year-old Fin Lawlor had opened a bottle, unlocked his phone, and picked up a pen. Nine years earlier, meningitis had cost him all four limbs.

  • 11 years old
  • 4 limbs amputated at age 2 after meningococcal septicaemia
  • 1 hour to complete his first tasks with the new arm
  • 3 clinic appointments needed to get it built and fitted
  • 10 surgeries in total since his amputations

From induced coma to secondary school

Fin, from Hereford in the UK, was two years old when what looked like a cold turned critical within hours. His mother, Sarah Bonner, described him becoming "a little floppy," with a few pimple-like spots on his shoulder. At the hospital, his condition worsened so fast that doctors placed him in an induced coma to try to stop the infection spreading.

Surgeons amputated both arms and both legs below the knee after two weeks in hospital. Fin has since had ten operations in total, including procedures to insert pins into his leg bones. "It was heartbreaking after the amputations to see such an active toddler try to get up and run around, but not being able to," Bonner said, according to coverage in the Irish outlet Extra.ie.

A bionic hand built just for him

This month, days before starting secondary school for the first time, Fin was fitted with a Hero PRO — one of the most advanced bionic arms in the world, built by UK company Open Bionics. The arm uses myoelectric sensors that read his muscle movements and convert them into proportional, intuitive hand motions, and it's both water-resistant and wireless.

Fin hadn't worn an upper-limb prosthesis before. His left side, amputated at the wrist, still has a partial palm and thumb he manages well with day to day. It's his right side — amputated closer to the elbow, with far less natural function — that the Hero PRO is designed to support.

"It feels amazing. I just wanted it to help me out and make my life easier." — Fin Lawlor

Almost immediately, Fin put the arm to real use: writing with a "key thumb" grip mode, drawing a straight line with a ruler, carrying a backpack, and grabbing fruit — though he had to dial back the grip sensitivity after it crushed a honeycomb square.

What's next for Fin

The family only needed three appointments to get the custom arm built and fitted, moving from an initial check-socket appointment in June to a finished device before the school year started. "We didn't think it would be ready before school, but the clinical team worked so hard to make it happen for Fin," Bonner said.

Fin is looking forward to art and design technology classes at his new school, and hopes the arm will help him hold materials steady with two hands — bracing a piece of wood while filing it, for example, or holding a paintbrush. Outside school, he's aiming to get back to riding his bike with more confidence and to try tennis and ping pong for the first time.

"Starting secondary school is such a big moment for any child, and it means so much to know Fin is walking into it with more independence and confidence with his new bionic arm," said Samantha Payne MBE, co-founder of Open Bionics. For a boy who loves kung fu, football and swimming, it's one more tool for keeping up with a life he's never let his amputations slow down.