A 12-year-old ballet enthusiast who lost part of her leg in an accident that killed her grandmother has been able to perform 'en pointe' for the first time after being fitted with a prosthetic limb. Pollyanna Hope, who lives in Harpenden with her parents and three siblings, was just two years old when she was walking with her mother Sarah and grandmother Elizabeth when a bus lost control and mounted the pavement at Mortlake bus station, leaving part of the little girl's right leg and her foot irreparably damaged. Following the accident, dance lover Pollyanna took up ballet lessons, but was unable to progress and failed exams because she 'didn't have a foot to point'.But thanks to award-winning inventor and engineer Yusuf Mohammad, the keen dancer has been presented with a solution - in the form of a uniquely designed mechanical prosthetic limb that allows Pollyanna to 'point' her replacement foot at the touch of a button.
In an emotional moment in BBC Two's Inventing the Impossible: The Big Life Fix, which aired on Thursday night, Pollyanna was finally been able to perform on her tiptoes with the click of a button, leaving viewers in tears. The schoolgirl has undergone 21 operations to stop the bone growing through the skin on her stump and has had 20 different prosthetic limbs since her accident in 2007. But she has struggled to find a leg that allowed her to fully embrace her passion, In my ballet exam, I got marks off because I didn’t point my foot. But it’s quite difficult when you don’t have a foot to a point,' she explained matter-of-factly in the programme.
Determined to find a way, Pollyanna began taping a plastic cup to the bottom of her prosthetic blade that simulated the length of her foot. Admitting defeat at the temporary measure, her parents turned to Yusuf with the help of the BBC team to help find a more permanent way to allow Pollyanna to progress in her lessons. Her father Christopher said: 'It’s really frustrating because she was marked down in a ballet exam for her disability [and] that is something that really wasn’t her fault.' Reflecting on her daughter's determination Sarah said: 'She has got loads of friends and she is totally happy. She is one of the strongest people I can think of.
'She doesn’t let anything drag her down, if she wants to be a dancer when she grows up, she will be a dancer.' Yusuf visited Pollyanna in the ballet studio where she performed well-rehearsed pirouettes on her blade. But her dance teacher Claire explained that the flat part of the prosthetic blade was preventing the student from being able to go on her tiptoes. After taking precise measurements of her left foot, Yusuf began work with Dorset Prosthetics and set about building a prototype, using a BMX bike seat as inspiration.
The dropper seat mechanism in the bike is controlled by a button that makes it go up and down, which he applied to the prosthetic limb. Pollyanna was initially given a design that had a wire leading from the button to the limb, but it got in the way of her dancing. After two weeks Yusuf created an alternative wireless control system, allowing Pollyanna could point her toe whenever she pressed the button strapped to her finger. The emotional big reveal left viewers in tears, with one tweeting: 'You can almost her dreams being realised as she is doing the dance steps.'
'Something in my eye again,' another posted. A third posted: '#BigLifeFix is just the most inspiring and emotional show! 'As she performed for the first time on her new limb, her parents watched on in delight. ‘It’s the first time she has ever done tiptoe since before the accident, that is why it’s amazing. It’s very emotional.,' said Christopher.
Her mother, who was also seriously injured in the horrific crash and was recently rewarded for her hard work as a charity campaigner for amputee children, watched on in amazement.' It’s hard to actually comprehend as a parent. It’s a big leap forward for her because no one has ever done this before. It’s totally new ground.' A humbled Yusuf added: 'It feels wonderful, it feels amazing to have played a role in Pollyanna’s dancing career. 'She’s so passionate about dancing, she comes alive when she is moving.'