Mum who was run over by two Tube trains gets bionic arm that reads her mind
A mum who suffered a double amputation after a horrifying accident on the London Underground will ‘get a piece of her life back’ thanks to a new bionic arm.
Sarah de Lagarde was run over by two Tube trains at High Barnet station after she lost her footing and fell down the gap between the train and platform edge in September last year.
Her right arm and leg were crushed by a train as it left the station, and her injuries were worsened when she was hit by another Tube pulling in.
Ms de Lagarde, from Camden, north London, cried out for help for 15 minutes before somebody heard her and alerted the emergency services.
The mother-of-two was airlifted to hospital and admitted to a specialist unit after the terrifying incident, which happened as she travelled home from work.
Sadly, she lost both her arm and leg, but she will now become the first person in the world to use a new AI arm that can read her mind.
She claims the £250,000 bionic arm has software that can learn the movements she makes ‘most frequently’ and will ‘make it easier for me to do them’ over time.
Latest London news
- Mayor Sadiq Khan braces for London’s ULEZ showdown
- Former Met Police officer raped colleague six times and 16-year-old twice
- ‘Aggressive’ Gospel Oak crow is attacking at least 20 people a day
To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro.co.uk’s visit Metro’s London news hub.
Her brain will be able to move the arm as she becomes ‘20 per cent robot’ and ‘80 percent human’, reports The Times.
‘The socket will attach to my upper arm and it will have sensors which detect my muscle twitches,’ she said.
‘And the software will convert those impulses into arm movements.’
She added: ‘I have seen videos where the hand is able to hold an egg with three fingers or pick up a coin from a table.’
Ms de Lagarde has recently started training for her new arm, which was made by Covvi, a company based in Leeds.
Her family started fundraising for the bionic arm when they were told it is difficult to get above the elbow prosthetics and would need to pay for a ‘decent functioning arm’ privately.
The page raised in excess of £290,000 and she says her daughters are now ‘really excited’ to see the new technology in action.
She admitted that the generosity of people has been incredible and doesn’t go unnoticed, telling The Times: ‘Even people donating £2 made me feel quite emotional.’
Speaking three months after the accident, Ms de Lagarde wrote on her fundraising page: ‘2022 was on track to be the best year of my life…
‘I was enjoying my job, I went on outdoor adventures with my kids and climbed Kilimanjaro in August and then about a month later my year took a dark turn.’
In her most recent update on the page in April this year, she said she was able to go on her first trip as a family since she was injured.
She said: ‘It’s completely out of my comfort zone but I feel strongly about reclaiming the things I used to enjoy so much before the accident.
‘7 months ago I was able bodied and climbed Kilimanjaro. 6 months ago I was in a hospital bed, thinking I would never, ever be able to walk, let alone hike again.
‘And now I’ve proved myself wrong. My grin couldn’t be bigger.’
Ms de Lagarde also appeared on Good Morning Britain where she said she felt ‘so privileged and grateful that I am alive’, despite such a ‘terrible’ thing happening.
She told the ITV show: ‘It makes you realise how precarious your life is and instead of worrying about the smaller things in life we should be focusing on the things that really matter.
‘And for me it was saying “I love my family, I love my husband, I love my children” and that sentiment should override everything else so don’t sweat the small stuff.’
Last month, a boy born with a rare condition was left speechless after he was given a life-changing bionic arm.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Source: Read Full Article