Sarah De Legarde Finally Gets Fitted With Her COVVI Hand
COVVI Advocate, Sarah de Lagarde, has finally been fitted with her very own COVVI Hand after receiving life-changing injuries last year. Sarah was run over by two London Underground trains at High Barnet Station in September 2022, with her arm and leg needing to be amputated.
Nine months on and after several rounds of testing and socket building, Sarah was fitted at the Dorset Orthopaedic clinic in Amersham. The BBC was invited to cover this story and help spread awareness of the power that advanced prosthetics have to change the lives of users across the world.
Sarah is keen to get going with her new bionic arm and learn the ways it can be used throughout her daily life to give her the freedom to once again do the tasks that are usually so innate to us. This is what she has to say so far on her time with the COVVI Hand:
“As I was rushed into surgery, I was given a consent form to have my leg and arm amputated since they were no longer ‘viable’. I told them to do whatever it takes to stay alive, but… when you cut my arm off, please attach a cool-looking robot arm. I want a badass arm!
The surgeon shook his head and said ‘that’s not how this works. It will take 2-3 years before you’ll be able to use a prosthetic like that’, but I was determined to push ahead with my rehabilitation and get fitted as soon as possible. Now we’re nine months on and on my first day with this bionic hand, I’m already putting it to good use. The feeling of freedom is unbeatable, from being able to carry things in two hands again, to opening a bottle, to being able to give my husband a two-armed hug!”