Remi Bateman was born without her left forearm and hand but she doesn’t let it slow her down.
Now 9 years old, Bateman is busy riding her bike and scooter around her neighborhood in Utah – and she’s got her sights set on doing even more daily tasks, like cutting her own food and doing her own hair.
Remi has been using a silicone prosthesis, covered by her health insurance, since she was 6 months old. While the prosthetic is helpful, it’s heavy and doesn’t give her the ability to move fingers.
“Her current prosthetic is pretty stationary and doesn’t do a lot,” her mother, Jami, told “CBS Mornings.” The hand on Remi’s prosthesis was molded into a plastic fist.
A “life changing” mission
Last year, Jami came across a social media post for Open Bionics and its 3D-printed multi-grip “Hero Arm.” Each finger has its own motor, making it possible to grip everyday items with precision. Within 48 hours, Jami and her husband, Josh, scheduled a video consultation with Open Bionics and drove to their clinic in Denver, Colorado for an initial fitting.
“It was life changing,” Jami said. “This bionic arm is like 95 percent of having a real hand.”
The Batemans hoped insurance would help pay for the Hero Arm but their provider denied coverage, saying it wasn’t “medically necessary,” according to Jami. Without insurance, the bionic arm cost $24,000.
“I do understand that you can live just fine without [a hand], but imagine what you could do with two hands. I feel like the whole world is built around having two hands,” Jami said.
Like many Americans with medical needs not covered by insurance, the Batemans turned to crowdsourcing.
On Dec. 10, 2024, Remi’s fight for her Hero Arm made the local news. Within four days, the Batemans raised over $24,000. Andy Schoonover, CEO of CrowdHealth, a subscriber-based crowdfunding platform for medical bills, also contacted the Batemans after seeing their plea for help online.
“He told me he would pay for Remi’s hand in cash,” said Jami.
And that’s where the story takes a turn.
Paying it forward
With Schoonover’s gift, Jami realized they still had $24,000 in donations. She asked her daughter what she wanted to do with it.
Courtesy of Kaitlin Skinner
“Help more kids,” Remi enthusiastically replied. “So people can actually have a life-changing arm like me.”
Across the country in Maryland, 9-year-old Tyraun “Taj” Johnson was also trying to raise money for a Hero Arm. He was born with a partial left hand. His family worked hand specialists at Johns Hopkins Medicine to look at surgery and different prosthesis options to give him some usage of his left hand. They were hopeful the Hero Arm could be the solution they were searching for.
But like Remi, Taj’s health insurance company denied the coverage of the Hero Arm. His family was devastated.
“You’re telling me that a kid able to function with daily tasks – something as small as feeding themselves, getting dressed…You’re telling me that that’s not medically necessary?” his mother, Kaitlin Skinner, asked.
“I would give Taj my left hand if I could,” Kaitlin added.
The family started lemonade stands to raise the money for the bionic arm. In four months, they had only made $1,500.
Then they got a life-changing call from Remi’s mom. The Bateman’s offered to use the donations they received for Remi’s arm for Taj’s Hero Arm.
Open Bionics helped connect the families. Samantha Payne, co-founder of Open Bionics, told CBS News clinicians spend a lot of time assisting families in appealing insurance denials. “The technology is 20 years old and has been tested,” added Payne.
A dream come true
CBS Mornings
Kaitlin was brought to tears by the Batemans’ generous offer and thanked them for making Taj’s dream come true.
“Taj got teary eyed when he saw a video of Remi holding a fork with the Hero Arm,” Kaitlin said. One of the things Taj is most looking forward to is playing sports.
Kaitlin recently drove to New York City with Taj to meet Daniel Green, upper limb prosthetist at Open Bionics, who will make the mold that will become Taj’s Hero Arm. While in New York, Taj had a surprise visitor: Remi and her mom. They arrived at our invitation.
A new friendship forged through the kindness of strangers. Remi and Taj plan to meet again during the summer.
“If we have a playdate with our [Hero] robot arms, we could be like Ironman,” Remi said.
Donations for Remi continued to pour in. So she’s continued to pay it forward, using the fund to help two more 11 year olds fund their Hero Arms after insurance denied their claims.
