Girl Gets Pair of Prosthetic Arms

M I A M I, March 15, 2001 -- It was the birthday gift of a lifetime for 11-year-old Diamond Excell: a pair of arms.

The Miami girl was born with a congenital deformity, without shoulders, arms or hands.

But thanks to a fund-raising effort spear-headed by the Rotary Foundation, a prosthesis specially designed new upper limbs for her.

Yesterday, on her birthday, she showed how they worked.

By moving muscles in her back, Excell can send signals to her brain, which turns them into electrical messages that control motors inside the prosthesis.

The prosthesis has three motors that open and close the joints.

Ivan Yaeger, the arms’ designer, used existing electronics and off the shelf parts to construct the arms for Excell.

The girl still has several months of therapy to become familiar with the arms. Currently, she can only wear her new arms for about an hour and half before she needs to take a break.

As she grows, the arms also will have to be readjusted.

A Glass of Water, a Bike and a Hug

The Associated Press says supporters raised $60,000 of the $70,000 needed for the devices.

For now, Excell is looking forward to doing the simple things, such as pouring herself a glass of water and learning how to ride a bike.

Having the arms also lets her do something she had only dreamed of: hug her mom.

“Words cannot express the way I felt when she hugged me with those arms,” her mother Delia Excell says. “Words cannot express it.”

Derek McGinty of Good Morning America and Christina Gonzalez of ABC affiliate WPLG, in Miami, contributed to this report.