Eight-year-old trials prosthetic arm designed for surfing

Joanie Melady surfing at The Wave in Bristol

(Image credit: The Wave/SWNS)

published 26 August 2022

An eight-year-old has become one of the first people in the world to trial a prosthetic arm designed specifically for surfing. Joanie Melady, from South Oxfordshire, was born with a congenital condition that means her left arm never fully developed. She tried out the prosthetic arm, which was made by the company Koalaa, at a wave pool in Bristol. “The prosthetic gave her the confidence and support she needed to push up from the board to standing,” said Joanie’s father, Alan. “She smiled the whole time and as soon as she had ridden one wave in, she was straight back out there to catch the next one.”

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