An adorable baby born without an arm has gone viral thanks to her amazing reaction to trying on her new prosthetic for the first time. This viral video of a baby girl receiving her first prosthetic arm is sure to hit you hard in the feels.
Baby Leia’s mom, Naomi Krisvany Wolf Matheus, 26, from Berlin, Germany was given the news her daughter would be born without the lower part of her left arm when she was 26 weeks into her pregnancy. However, she and husband David Muller, 38, accepted Leia’s condition and saw it as a blessing.
In November 2020, the family headed to EproTec, a prosthetic maker in Germany, where they waited for Leia, now aged nine months, to try on her new arm.
The emotional moment she put on her first prosthetic received over 4.5 million views on the social media platform — probably because it’s pure joy.
The video began with someone fastening the prosthetic arm onto Leia’s elbow. Leia looked at it curiously and at first, seemed pretty uninterested. But when her father tapped the prosthetic, she moved her arm back and forth in total awe of her body. Leia smiled and watched her prosthetic closely. Then finally she held her hands together as if to make the integration complete. The realization that, like on her right side, she now had a lower left arm that she could control caused the youngster to then raise a beautiful smile.
Aww, my heart melts. So happy for you sweet angel,” one user commented.
“Her eyes show her happiness. She likes it,” another person wrote.
“What a brave little baby and she is smart too! Love this!” someone said.
Naomi said: “We were so happy she accepted her prosthetic, so positive and natural, as if she knew what it’s for and where it belongs.
“We loved the moment because she reacted so innocent and positive – it felt like a hug to the heart.
“We were very excited, because we did not think that the video would go viral.
“I‘d like to normalize that she is normal with her disability, and that there are many children and people around the world like her, who need to know that they can achieve everything.
“They just need support and love.”
Experts recommend fitting infants with upper limb differences with prosthetics as early as possible. This makes it easier for children to adapt and grow with the prosthetics as they develop naturally.