A nine-year-old Huddersfield boy is to get a bionic arm in February … and he’s just scaled Mount Snowdon in Wales with his family to raise money towards it.
Lennon Chambers, of Netherton, was born without his lower left arm which has never stopped him from playing sport or riding his bike but NHS prosthetics are simply plastic arms that do nothing.
Now the money has all been raised for his £20,000 state-of-the-art prosthetic arm called a Hero Arm which uses muscle sensors from Lennon’s stump to control multi-grip hand functions. He should receive it in February.
Lennon is one of three children who are getting the arms after raising £20,000 between them for one arm as Open Bionics in Bristol – which provides the arms – The Worshipful Company of Glovers and an anonymous donor have raised enough funds to buy two other Hero Arms.
The charity has selected three families and funds two Hero Arms but the families had to raise enough to cover the cost of the third Hero Arm.
Some of Lennon’s family and friends – 12 including three children – did a sponsored walk up Mount Snowdon in Wales on Saturday, December 27, taking six hours to reach the summit.
Hinchliffe’s Farm Shop in Netherton and Taylors Food Store in Honley held raffles to raise hundreds of pounds towards the appeal.
Lennon’s mum, Claire, said: “Although all the money has been raised it’s still open for donating which will go towards upkeep and maintenance.”
Lennon lives with Claire, dad Dan Chambers and his older sister and brother, Tiegan and Brandon. Dan is a director at Sellers Textiles Engineers in Huddersfield and Claire is an administrator and showroom assistant at Revival Vintage clothing in Lockwood.
Claire said: “Lennon’s a very determined boy who has always had a can-do mentality and takes everything in his stride.
“From riding a bike at the age of just two to playing football and cricket for local clubs, it seems he always wants to prove the doubters wrong.”
Lennon – a pupil at South Crosland C of E School – will have a go at any sports, rock-climbing, surfing and swimming but, in particular, loves cycling, golf and plays football for Netherton Under 10s team on the left wing. He scored 52 goals in his second season and was awarded Player of the Year last season.
He also plays cricket for Armitage Bridge Cricket Club where last season he was awarded the bowler of the year title.
Claire learned about the Hero Arms through Barnsley-based charity the LimbBo Foundation which supports children with limb problems and their families.
The other two children who Lennon is fundraising alongside are Caleb who was born without an arm below his forearm and Imogen who was born with a hand missing. Both live in the north east.
Donations can still be made at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-big-hero-3-2025
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
