This is one of the most badass examples of “When life gives you lemons make lemonade” that I have ever seen. Caitlin Michelle was born without a forearm on her left arm. Instead of complaining, getting depressed or letting her disability define her, the 25-year-old woman made her congenital amputation work for her.
When Caitlin was only 4-years-old she started using a standard prosthetic arm. While this option was visually helpful, it wasn’t very functional. Thankfully, Caitlin received a state-of-the-art bionic hand which is connected to existing nerves and muscles last December. She finally had two functioning arms.
“My new bionic arm is amazing, it came with eight different grip patterns and a wrist rotator which allows me to spin 360 degrees,” Caitlin said. “For years I used a prosthetic arm which had little movement in it, so I was limited with what I could do.”
“My new arm is really efficient, it’s been such a game changer, I can use it for a full day and then I plug it in overnight, just like a phone really,” Caitlin said. “There are sensors inside the arm which locate where my strongest muscle signals are, they then help me to navigate.”
“It was also designed to fit my arm perfectly, which is great because it feels like the arm is actually a part of my body,” she said. “I am now able to reach for things with my left arm, which I could never do before, and I love being able to pick things up so easily.”
Caitlin, who is a teacher in New Jersey, said her students are still getting used to her robotic arm.
“I teach kids of 11 and 12 and they are fascinated by my arm, they always compare it to video game characters,” she said. “The small robot sounds that my arm makes used to confuse some of the children but now they see the fun side of it, they’ve all got used to me wearing it.”
Caitlin is into cosplay and makes her bionic arm part of the characters that she is portraying. She was a hit at Comic Con and met Stan Lee and Fabian Nicieza, the creator of Deadpool.
She even won 3rd place for the best Winter Soldier cosplay at the New York Comic Con.
“I like to see the fun side to my arm and I enjoy cosplay a lot.”
“I don’t want people to think that missing a limb means my life is tragic or worthy of pity.”
Caitlin, keep being awesome and being the most badass cosplayer.
[Mirror]