A young Star Wars fan and amputee has received an R2-D2 inspired bionic limb from company Open Bionics as well as a phone call from Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.
Bella Tadlock, from Tallahassee, Florida, raised almost 14,000 dollars (about £11,000) for her bionic hero arm, created by Bristol company Open Bionics.
The 11-year-old started a fundraiser that first caught the eye of actor Mark Hamill in November – Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies, retweeted her appeal to his 3.6 million followers.
Following a successful fundraising campaign, Bella became the first person in the United States to receive the advanced multi-grip arm in the style of R2-D2.
She met her hero, Luke Skywalker, during a Skype call. She demonstrated picking up a bottle with her new hand and exchanged “OK” signs with with Mark Hamill.
The actor told her: “That is great – that is so fantastic. I’m so happy that you were able to have this happen for you.”
