A disabled teenager from Harpenden will receive a specially developed new prosthetic limb on the BBC tonight.
BBC2’s The Big Life Fix are shining a spotlight on Pollyanna Hope, who dreams of being a dancer even though she lost her leg at just two years old.
Pollyanna was walking with her mother Sarah and grandmother Elizabeth by London’s Mortlake station in 2007 when the family were hit by a bus mounting the pavement.
While Sarah was seriously injured and the toddler lost her leg, Elizabeth was tragically killed.
Now 13 years old, Pollyanna dreams of being a ballet dancer - an aspiration which is now one step closer to fruition.
Scientists on The Big Life Fix have created a unique prosthetic leg which has an electronic ankle and can be moved into a demi-pointe position.
Pollyanna’s mum Sarah said: “It is quite hard for her to get used to but she is doing more dancing in September so hopefully she will use it then.
“She tried it but it is quite heavy really - it’s hard to make a prosthetic with a movable ankle and it’s incredible what they did.”
The family were approached by producers of the show about a year ago, and it has taken that long to develop the leg.
Sarah added: “It took a huge amount of research and development. They needed to work out how she moves and it was very scientific.
“When she grows up she wants to be a dancer. I am very aware that at the age of 13 she might change her mind but all children should follow their dreams and nothing makes me happier than watching her dance.”
Since the accident, Sarah set up the charity Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope and opened a confidential support service called The Sarah Hope Line.
She has won the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Special Recognition award in 2017 for successfully lobbying for Government funding to make running blades available for more child amputee victims.
For her 10 years of unfaltering charity work, Sarah has also won the Point of Light award in 2015 and the Herts Ad Community Awards Parent in a Million accolade in 2016.
The Big Life Fix is a show which gifts life-changing inventions for people in need. There are two other people who will be featured on the programme tonight. Watch it on BBC2 at 8pm.
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