Nassau County girl to receive free prosthetic arm from Utah family fundraiser

Faith Kight, whose family says was born with a rare condition called ABS (amniotic band syndrome), has lived all of her life without a left hand. The most she had, her mother says, was a prosthetic arm through the time she was five years old. But Faith says she had to move her right arm to get it to work, causing rashes and other pain.

“We fought for a year trying to get insurance to help pay for a new arm, to do our own crowdfunding, our own GoFundMe,” said Faith’s mother, Tammy Holoka, “but we were only able to get so far with our own.”

A few weeks ago, Faith’s family met the family of a 9-year-old girl in Utah, Remi, who has since raised more than $51,000 to raise enough money for her new prosthetic arm. After hearing Faith’s story, Remi’s family decided to give them a hand in getting an arm for free.

“There are no words to express being able to get Faith this arm,” said Tammy.

The arm Faith will soon receive, through the help of Remi’s family, is called a HeroArm. Unlike her previous prosthetic, it will be custom-fit to Faith’s arm without a rig attaching it to the other half of her body. It’s made by a company called Open Bionics, which says the HeroArm can cost as much as $30,000 without insurance.

“How do you feel about getting your arm?” Tammy asked her daughter. “I feel excited,” Faith said with a laugh, “I want to see Remi in person and say, ‘thank you,’ and hug her.”

Remi’s family, on their GoFundMe page, says they’ve also raised enough money to fund a HeroArm for an 8-year-old boy in New York, named Taj. Faith’s family says they’re hoping to eventually meet Remi’s family, as well as Taj, to say thank you.

Faith is expecting to get her HeroArm sometime next month.

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