Gentlemen, we can rebuild her. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic ... funny bone?
Here's the story of 8-year-old Josalyn Kaldenberg, who became the first child in the USA to receive the funny bone transplant, a landmark procedure that saved her arm from amputation:
Just a few months ago, it seemed inevitable that Josalyn would lose her arm to the cancer that had invaded the bones of her upper arm, elbow, and shoulder. Thanks to the first-of-its-kind funny bone replacement, however, Josalyn is now back coloring, writing and playing the piano at her Woodward, Iowa home.
"It's just amazing what they can do now, reattaching all the tendons and blood vessels and nerves and have the arm actually work. Obviously we don't wish this would have happened, but it's neat to see what can come about," says Josalyn's mother, Heidi Kaldenberg.
"I like my new arm a lot," says Josalyn, who is fiercely proud of the 12 inch scar that now graces her upper arm.