A Taylor Swift superfan is hoping to raise £20,000 so she can be fitted with a bionic arm that will enable her to play guitar just like the pop star. Kitty Wilmshurst was born without her lower left arm and has spent her entire life adapting to a two-handed world. But now she has launched a campaign to raise the funds needed to buy her a Hero Arm – an advanced, lightweight, 3D printed prosthetic limb.
For 11-year-old Kitty, the state-of-the-art bionic technology would not only making her daily life significantly easier, but also enable her to play the guitar properly.
Taylor Swift superfan Kitty (Image: -)
Kitty is the lead singer of the junior band Wildcard, part of the award-winning LS18 Rocks live performance music school, in her hometown of Horsforth, Leeds.
But she is desperate to play the guitar so she can introduce more of Taylor Swift’s back catalogue to her own band’s repertoire.
She said: “I absolutely adore Taylor. It would be so cool to just like be able to just play a guitar just like her.”
Kitty has made previous attempt to play the guitar using a special arm attachment with a fitted plectrum but says unfortunately the mechanism “can’t help me do all the things I’d like to do.”
Taylor Swift (Image: Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
Kitty on stage with Wildcard (Image: LS18 Rocks)
She added: “It’s good that I’ve been able to try the guitar but I want to be able to play properly. I’ve been a ‘Swiftie’ since I first heard her music at a nursery school disco and I love singing all her songs, but to have a Hero Arm to also play guitar would give me so much more confidence.”
Alongside making music the new arm would also assist Kitty, who starts high school in September, with simple activities that most people take for granted such as buttering toast, styling her hair or carrying a drink through a closed door.
She added: “I’ve always found a way to do things, but sometimes it takes longer, and I may need help.
“If I’m carrying something, I have to put it under my arm, or I have to put it down, open the door, hold the door open, and then get through – it’s really hard.”
But despite these hurdles, her limb difference hasn’t held her back from pursuing her passions.
Kitty Wilmshurst (Image: -)
She said: “Being in my band has made me more confident, I perform in front of quite a lot of people, and I enjoy it now. I’m not nervous anymore. I just need to be more independent going forward, it’s not that I want to hide my arm.
“I want to make it more visible and be a role model to other kids like me. But a Hero Arm would really help me change my life and do anything I put my mind to.”
To support Kitty’s fundraising visit here
Kitty and Wildcard on stage (Image: LS18 Rocks)
Taylor Swift during her Red Tour in Newark, New Jersey (Image: -)
