A 10-year-old boy from the British seaside town of Poole, who was born with one hand, is being tipped to become a pro golfer after a special bionic glove was made for him.
Leo Millar amazed his golfing enthusiast father when he picked up a club and drove a ball to an impressive 100 yards with one hand.
“At this point he was swinging away left-handed with his stumpy bit — we call it his ‘special’ — resting on the top of the club,” Leo’s father Ian Millar told a local newspaper. “But he was hitting the ball really well.”
Other people who watched the boy practice were quite amazed too.
“I took him up the practice ground at my local golf club, and when the professionals saw him and realized he had only been playing for two days, they offered him free lessons,” he said. “He has been told that he has a perfect golf swing — it is textbook.”
Seeing his son’s talent and thinking of where it might go, the Millar family contacted the Dorset Orthopaedic company, a company that develops and manufactures prosthetics. Bob Watts, the founder of the company, was so intrigued with Leo’s talent that he came up with a sleeve that wraps around Leo’s wrist to enable him to insert any golf club. Watts said that the glove allows for a free movement.
“Now with the new prosthetic limb on he is using both hands and arms for the first time, and can hit the ball 200 yards,” said the boy’s father.
A spokesman for the Royal & Agent, the spot’s governing body in the UK, said that they have no problem with Leo’s glove because it is covered by a rule regarding artificial medical devices.
“While we cannot give a definitive ruling on any piece of equipment without seeing it, if there are no particularly unusual features of the prosthetic hand I’m sure it would be absolutely fine,” the spokesman said.
via: Design Buzz
