Ben Ryan, of Anglesey, Wales, is a loving husband to wife, Kate Smith, and dad to two boys, 10-week-old Dax and one-year-old Sol. Little Sol, Ryan's first child, was born in 2015. With the happiness that came with his birth, there was also tragedy. Due to complications, doctors told Ryan they would be forced to amputate the boy's left arm when he was just 10 days old. He was also informed that Sol would have to wait a year afterward for a prosthetic arm. Instead, Ryan was inspired to build a bionic arm for his son himself.
Sol was born with his left arm over his head, and complications during his birth caused him to develop a blood clot above his elbow, and it was then that doctors made the decision to amputate.
Upon hearing that his son would have to wait a year for a prosthetic limb, and then another three or four years until he could be fitted with an electrical one, Ryan and his wife became determined to make sure that a lack of limb would not and should not halt Sol's development.
So Ryan got to work.
The former psychology lecturer quit his job and went all-in on his idea, which was to build a prototype bionic arm for infants who have suffered a loss of limb, like Sol.
Ryan, inspired by spiders and the way they use hydraulics to move, taught himself how to design the model, and then built it using a 3D printer. He has since set up a new firm, Ambionics, to concentrate on prosthetics for babies.
"For me, the driving force has always been Sol," Ryan said.
Although the bionic arm is potentially revolutionary and has already begun to change the family's life, it is at a crucial stage in development, and Ryan has set up a crowdsourcing page to raise funds to take his dream even further.
Check out the rest of the Ryan's amazing story in the video below, and please SHARE it with your friends and family on Facebook!
