From icCoventry.co.uk
'Bionic' arm gives stroke victim hope
Jan 15 2008 By Catherine Vonledebur
FORMER EastEnders actress Michelle Ryan may be US TV's new Bionic Woman, but Coventry stroke survivor Tracy Ikeringill really does have a "bionic" arm.
The revolutionary £560 hand therapy unit was invented by American occupational therapists - and half-brothers - Henry Hoffman and John Farrell.
It allows stroke and head-injury patients to practise rehabilitation physiotherapy exercises at home.
Tracy, a 41-year-old IT support worker at Axa Insurance in Coventry city centre, had a stroke six years ago when she was 35, which left her completely paralysed down the left hand side of her body.
She said: "I was at work one day and I fell off my chair, then realised that I couldn't get back up. It took 10 days to sink in that I'd had a stroke. Originally I thought I could move my hand - but when I looked it wasn't moving.
"My Nan had a stroke but she was in her 60s. It turns out that I have a hereditary blood condition that makes me more prone to clotting.
"I was in hospital at Walsgrave for five weeks, then went to a stroke rehabilitation centre in Leamington for eight weeks.
"I can walk again now but I still cannot move my ankle.
"Work have been really good and helped me to come back gradually. I started back half a day a week and now work three days. I used to be a touch typist and can type quite fast now with one hand."
Tracy wears the bionic arm for 45 minutes a day while she is practising her physiotherapy exercises.
She can close her fingers but not open them, which is where the bionic arm comes in.
"It has built-in springs which help my fingers to open. I have seen more movement in my arm as a result. You can't get physio on the NHS a year after your stroke."
Tracy, who is married to IT land manager Clark, also aged 41, first heard about the Saebo hand-therapy unit at Coventry's Different Strokes support group for young stroke survivors.