A little girl who was born without a hand has been fitted with a superhero-style pink arm.
Hayley Fraser, 5, from Inverness, was born without any fingers on her left hand and would often try to hide her stump in photographs or at nursery.
Her parents David and Zania turned to the internet after the NHS could not offer her a prosthetic
A new US-based charity has now made her a pink and purple robo-limb inspired by superhero Ironman – the first ever to have been made for a British child.
Unlike conventional prosthetic limbs, charity E-Nable make hands on 3D printers which intentionally stand out in a bid to make kids proud of their differences.
And little Hayley now proudly shows off her star-embossed hand.
Mr Fraser, 36, said: “It was pretty emotional seeing her use it for the first time. It was all her dreams come true.
“She can hold her teddy, peel a banana and even paint her nails now. It’s amazing. It has made a real difference to her.
He added: “The philosophy behind the charity is amazing.
“They pick their own designs and colours, and they don’t look like you would expect a prosthetic to look – it makes the kids feel really special, rather than having something to be embarrassed about.”
The simple device is controlled by the wrist, with the fingers closing when she moves her hand down thanks to tightened strings, and opening when she does the opposite.Hayley was born with symbrachydactyly, a congenital abnormality.
When she was three her parents went to see specialists in Edinburgh to see what could be done.
They were frustrated when doctors proposed an operation to transplant a toe to her hand – with no other options.
Mr Fraser, a self-employed electrical contractor, said: “She just has a little stump on her left hand instead of fingers, but she copes really well.
“We didn’t make a big deal out of it, but if she would stand for a photograph, she would stand with her other hand over it, or behind her back.
“We spoke to lots of specialists and they said that they could remove a toe and make it a finger, but that was their only option.
“We just didn’t want to put a three-year-old child through that so we started researching the internet.”
E-Nable matched Hayley with Professor Frankie Flood at the University of Wisconsin.
The couple made a plaster cast at home and sent it to Prof Flood who printed the parts on a 3D printer and sent the new arm to Hayley.