Band's helping hand for bionic Becky
WEST Norfolk mus-icians are tuning up to give one of their colleagues a helping hand.
A concert by Hunstanton Concert Band next month will launch its Hand Aid appeal to raise 30,000 to buy a bionic hand for its lead trombonist Becky Palmer.
Brave Becky (26), from Fakenham, has never let the fact that she was born with no right hand stop her from doing what she wants to do. She wins tennis tournaments, plays squash and is a talented musician. She was principal trombonist with the National Schools Symphony Orchestra for two years and conducted the University of Reading's concert band. Now she is a supply teacher specialising in music in primary schools, works part-time at Budgens, at Fakenham, and drives her specially adapted car.
She does all this using one or other of her two NHS artificial hands which are heavy, unwieldy and unsightly. One is operated by pulling a chord with her left hand and the other, although it is electrically powered, often breaks down and sounds, in Becky's words "like a dying duck."
She said she was "dumbstruck" when she heard about the fund-raising concert. "I thought it was way beyond the call of duty and very kind of them," she told the Lynn News.
She knows that a state-of-the-art i-LIMB would change her life. "They are fantastic," she said. "Each finger operates individually and the hand looks totally natural. I would be able to play the piano and the guitar properly. I would also be able to use a knife and fork and would have more choice when I go out for a meal." Becky also admits there is a certain amount of vanity involved. "I have never liked wearing short-sleeved shirts because people tend to stare but the i-LIMB looks so realistic." Even walking her dog would be easier because she would have more control, she says.
The i-LIMB works electronically and is activated by the brain sending messages to the arm. Users, including Becky, have to go to Edinburgh to be trained to use them.
The band's director of music, Chris Gutteridge, said: "Becky is a fine musician and Hunstanton Concert Band is a close-knit family and we are delighted to help Becky achieve this aim."
Picture: Trombonist Becky Palmer could soon have a bionic right hand - thanks to some help from her friends. Picture: MLNF10PB03018 www.photostoday.co.uk To order, please ring 01553 817335
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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