Local skater and friend of the store, George Gooding and his family are fundraising to buy a life changing, state of the art biomimetic hand for him. George was born with a rare syndrome which meant that some of the bones in his hand and leg were not formed properly. At the age of two, he had to have a ‘through-knee’ amputation of his right leg.

The amputation was successful and George has been inspirational in the way he has learnt to move about with his prosthetic leg. However, he was told that “nothing could be done” about his hand and the four missing fingers. Despite his sunny disposition and positive attitude coping with one hand has caused George much heartache in his young life. He and his family continued searching, hoping, and praying that someone somewhere would be able to make a hand that would incorporate his thumb.

There have been many reports in the news about potential solutions but most required further surgery. Recently, he discovered a company in Dorset that has the technology to make a bionic hand for George that will give him the ability to have a working right hand. Initial tests were extremely encouraging which has given renewed hope that finally, George could regain the facility of two hands.

It was an emotional moment when his family saw George pick up an orange, a small sweet, and a coke can with fingers triggered by electronic impulses from his arm. Dreams had become reality. The costs for the hand are initially £30,000+ with a yearly warranty charge of £5,000 per year and we are determined to find the money from somewhere.

Bored of Southsea has already been able to raise some money through raffling a pair of limited shoes, with all proceeds going to the cause. But there's still a long way to go for George to reach his £40,000 goal, so if you'd like to find out more or able to give a donation of any amount then please head to his GoFundMe page. Please share this if possible, thank you.

Video: Luke Parker

Photography: David Millard