Inspirational Surrey Resident Is Raising Money For A Bionic Hand

On an ordinary day in May of 1999, Nicola, a Surrey resident was in a terrible car accident leaving her permanently affected by the horrific event, but not for long…

By Jamie Di Francescomarino

On May 31st, 1999, Nicola Wilding was driving back from Brighton along the A23 at a standard 70mph when one of her tyres blew out. She managed to impressively steer her car to the hard shoulder but as the car was still travelling at a high speed, it’s likely the car clipped the curb leading to Nicola’s car to roll uncontrollably. If Nicola wasn’t wearing her seatbelt things could have ended very differently, but fortunately, she was but it caused her this life-changing injury.

Nicola suffered a brachial plexus injury, leading her to lose the use of her right hand, arm and have almost no use of her upper arm and shoulder. Nicola describes herself as “someone who never gives up” and since the accident has always believed that one day, she would again have the use of both of her hands. She managed to raise £10,000 back in 2012 for a surgery in Vienna in which Professor Oscar Aszmann performed several muscle and nerve transplants which was a success. Along with the multiple transplants and regular exercise, Nicola has regained some shoulder and upper arm movement and strength.

So far Nicola has managed to raise an impressive £12,000 towards the hand that she needs but still needs a further £18,000 to get to the £30,000 target so she can once again have two working hands. The hand is a myoelectric prosthesis that will read her thoughts, requiring 2- 3 working motor nerve sights, with electrodes placed where strong signals are found. She will have to think and practice an action which is read by the prosthesis to then move the hand. She also needs an Osseointegration which is an attachment fixed to your skeleton.

Nicola says, “I’m proud of myself for turning a life-changing accident into a positive and fulfilling life experience”.

I am personally so inspired and impressed by Nicola’s story. For something so awful to happen and she just keeps bouncing back. She is determined to reach her goal. But she can’t do it alone!

If you are as incentivized by Nicola’s story as I am please help her out by donating to her virgin money giving page by clicking here

You can also follow Nicola’s story on her website:
www.nickyneedsahand.co.uk or her Facebook page: @SupportNicolaWilding