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•Aged just 15-months, little Tilly Lockey was diagnosed with meningitis which destroyed both her arms
•The now 13-year-old is one of a growing group to sport HeroArms – technically advanced prosthetic
•Her prosthetic have hands and wrists that move and grip like the real thing - and cost just £5,000 each
•Tilly could be described as the real-life Alita, the protagonist in James Cameron's new Hollywood blockbuster
The latest film from the director of Titanic and Avatar was bound to attract attention, with singer Dua Lipa joining A-list actors Jennifer Connelly and Christoph Waltz on the red carpet. But all eyes were on a less familiar figure: 13-year-old Tilly Lockey
While most youngsters her age might be overcome by shyness when faced with a wall of photographers, the teenager beamed with confidence as she posed for them. And there was something else that set her apart from the stars alongside her
The schoolgirl, who lost her hands and forearms to meningitis as a baby, is one of a small but growing group to sport HeroArms – technically advanced prosthetics with hands and wrists that move and grip like the real thing
Tilly was just 15 months old when mum Sarah, 39, a charity worker, heard her whimpering in her sleep. ‘I thought she was teething so I gave her some Calpol,’ Sarah says. ‘But the next morning she was pale and lethargic so I got an emergency appointment at the GP’
As Tilly grew, Sarah (far right) and Adam, also 39, tried to get Tilly to wear various prosthetics. ‘The first one was a hard lump of plastic hanging off her arm that needed a type of harness round the shoulder to keep it in place,’ Sarah says. ‘At three, she got her first electric hands, which moved the fingers by picking up signals from nerves in the skin. But these only allowed Tilly to move her fingers one at a time
