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Tallahassee girl gets worldwide attention for R2-D2 bionic arm

Posted at 5:20 PM, Mar 10, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-12 13:20:19-04

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — An 11-year-old from Tallahassee is getting lots of followers around the world, all thanks to a new bionic, prosthetic arm that looks like Star Wars character R2-D2 and a video chat with Mark Hamill.

Isabella "Bella" Tadlock recently had a checkup and everything looked good.

Her arms works through a process called mioletrics. Bella thinks of the motion she wants and then her brain will send signals to the arm and it will move.

The arm has 6 different grabs.

She has been able to do everyday tasks that she has never done before.

"I am able to blowdry and brush my hair, drink my water and yesterday I even practiced riding my bike with my arm," said Tadlock.

Her R2-D2 arm is the first of its kind in the U.S. The bionic arms is made by a company in the UK, Open Bionics.

Tadlock says she's excited to see what she'll be able to do in the future.