After this baby was born with one arm over his head, doctors gave his dad some frightening news. When doctors told Ben Ryan that his newborn son Soul’s arm was seriously injured, he was understandably devastated. In an instant, he saw all the things that he imagined him doing, doing together slip away. But thanks to his innovative idea, Saul might be able to make his father’s dream come true. After all, Ben and his partner, Kate Smith, live on the island of Anglesey in Wales.
He worked as a psychology lecturer at a University while Kate was a medical recruitment officer. However, in March 2015, everything changed. After the birth of their first child, their baby, a boy, was born on the day of a solar eclipse. As a result, his parents decided to name him Seoul. Kate had problematic labor, and soul was born with his left arm lifted above his head.
Little Soul Consequently developed complications
Then, when doctors detected a blood clot near his elbow, surgeons had to amputate the lower arm and watch their son suffer. This ordeal at an early stage had a profound effect on Ben and Kate. Seoul was our first baby, so to be told, he had to have his arm amputated at ten days old was terrible.
We were in a very black place, Ben told The Daily Mail in March 2017. I kept thinking he’d never be able to box or play guitar. All the things I’d done as a kid, his parents were adamant that Soul’s disability wouldn’t stop him from doing anything. However, their son wouldn’t be able to get a functional prosthetic arm until he was a year old, and for his dad, that simply wasn’t good enough. So Ben started building his son a prosthetic arm when Seoul was a mere five weeks old.
At the time, he used any materials he had at hand, including sponge and cotton wool. But it seemed the doting dad knew exactly what he was doing by encouraging him to use both arms. During this period of early brain development, we believed Saul would become more likely to adopt prosthetics later on, and told The Daily Post in March 2017. He added Current prosthetic arm technology for infants dates back to the Victorian era. In many cases, they’re ugly and often rejected.
Early on, Ben was determined that that wouldn’t happen to Seoul. So from that moment on, designing the perfect arm for his son became his number one focus. He even quit his job as a lecturer to give the task his full attention, Ben threw himself into his research. I spent a lot of time looking into prosthetics for babies and found a clear pattern. Those who were not offered a functioning hand until after two years of age tend to not wear them at all, he later wrote on Indiegogo, I wanted to do better for Saul.
So with a little help from his dad and brother, Ben began working on a prototype using copper piping and plumbing paraphernalia. He fashioned a model on his dining table. Then he approached nearby Banger University for help. The University had all the resources he needed, including a state-of-the-art scanner and 3D printers. And luckily for him, the staff were keen to help with their guidance.
Ben taught himself how to use expert design programs to make his dream a reality
In the end, it was the way that spiders controlled their legs via hydraulics that inspired Ben’s design. So he created his Bionic arm with a liquid pad, which the soul could operate using his elbow. The resulting pressure would push fluid down the arm to operate a gripping lever. However, Ben’s designs proved hard to perfect.
Over the next year, he went through dozens of prototypes, and his commitment to his cause soon left him without any funds to draw on. As a result, Ben turned to a Crowdfunding site to help him complete his project. Yes, the lecturer turned designer went to Indiegogo to ask for an investment of 162 $0, and his stated aim was to take his finished design to a wider market. We’ve made great progress and produced our first working prototype fitted to our founder, Benzone’s son read a statement on the Crowdfunding site.
We’ve seen the impact it has on his development
Now we need support to fully manufacture this prototype into a final product and make it available to our young customers throughout the world. And although Ben is now keen to help more children, his primary focus throughout the project has been his son. For me, the driving force has always been sold. He’s nearly two now and loves reading books. But even doing something as simple as turning a page is difficult because the book slides off his knee, he told The Daily Mail.
Having a Bionic arm will allow him to grip the book. It’s that simple, Ben added. At the moment, he wears my prototype. Occasionally, I won’t let him wear it all the time until we’ve put it through all the correct medical trials and tests. But I know this prosthetic has the potential to revolutionize the lives of millions of children and babies born without limbs in the future.
The next steps for Ben are to recruit more experts to his team, find a base for his enterprise, and conduct clinical trials. He’s also working with Autodesk, a software company that has made prosthetic limbs for Paralympic athletes. Autodesk designer Paul So. He has described Ben’s work as amazing and inspiring. It could also be said that Ben is simply a father determined to give his son the best possible start in life.
Thanks to his technology, his child will hopefully be able to grasp any dream he has insight into, and in turn, he will hopefully help a whole new generation of children like Soul achieve theirs too.