Little girl born with one hand determined to become a professional gymnast - without the use of a prosthetic
- 9 months ago
A little girl born with one hand is determined to become a professional gymnast - without the use of a prosthetic.
Seven-year-old Millie Sinnott has Symbrachydactyly, a congenital condition that causes abnormally short fingers.
Her upper-limb difference means she has a thumb but no palm or fingers on her left arm.
She “fell in love” with gymnastics aged three and has moved up the grades at the same pace as the able-bodied students.
The determined little girl refuses to use a prosthetic limb and can even perform cartwheels on the high beam and bars unaided.
Millie is the only student at her club with a disability and she is "proud" to be different.
She dreams of becoming a paralympian, but there is currently no gymnastics in the games, so along with mum Kathryn Sinnott, 27, they're campaigning to get the sport added.
Kathryn, a teaching assistant, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, said: “We didn’t know until she was born about her hand, but she never lets it stop her.
“There's never been any pressure on her to do more or achieve more, it's just what she wants to do - in every aspect she just wants to do it.
“She’s on her own way and she’s always amazed everyone.
"She calls it ‘thumby’ and she’s really proud of it and makes jokes around it all the time.”
Doctors spotted the limb difference when Millie was born in Lister Hospital, Stevenage, weighing in at 7lbs and 6oz on 11 September 2015.
She got her first prosthetic from Stanmore Hospital in the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital when she was two-and-a-half years old to help her ride her scooter.
When she was three years old, Millie wanted to start gymnastics to do roly-polys, and began in the younger group, doing acrobatics and tumbling.
She received a new prosthetic hand to help her on the bars at her gymnastic class but decided to go without.
“They got her a prosthetic for gymnastics which was really good, but it’s taken her a long time to find out what she needed," Kathryn continues.
“She tried it for a little while but found it easier without it."
Millie joined the older gymnastics group in 2021 to try different equipment, where she has gone from strength to strength, moving up four grades over two years.
Kathryn said: “It’s such a passion of hers and she’s now constantly doing it.
"Even when she hurts herself, she gets up and keeps going.”
Millie experiences pain in her thumb, which is fully formed but much thinner, unlike that of an able-bodied person.
When she does gymnastics the muscles in her thumb have to work harder and take on a great deal of extra strain.
Kathryn said: “Millie is very accident prone, and she's had a few falls.
“Recently she was at a summer camp, and she fell off the bars and fell on her left arm and hurt herself.
“The hospital is very used to her though; she gets in a sling, and she’s sent home.”
In June, Millie won the vault category in her club’s competition, where she was competing against thirty other girls.
This victory made her even mor
Seven-year-old Millie Sinnott has Symbrachydactyly, a congenital condition that causes abnormally short fingers.
Her upper-limb difference means she has a thumb but no palm or fingers on her left arm.
She “fell in love” with gymnastics aged three and has moved up the grades at the same pace as the able-bodied students.
The determined little girl refuses to use a prosthetic limb and can even perform cartwheels on the high beam and bars unaided.
Millie is the only student at her club with a disability and she is "proud" to be different.
She dreams of becoming a paralympian, but there is currently no gymnastics in the games, so along with mum Kathryn Sinnott, 27, they're campaigning to get the sport added.
Kathryn, a teaching assistant, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, said: “We didn’t know until she was born about her hand, but she never lets it stop her.
“There's never been any pressure on her to do more or achieve more, it's just what she wants to do - in every aspect she just wants to do it.
“She’s on her own way and she’s always amazed everyone.
"She calls it ‘thumby’ and she’s really proud of it and makes jokes around it all the time.”
Doctors spotted the limb difference when Millie was born in Lister Hospital, Stevenage, weighing in at 7lbs and 6oz on 11 September 2015.
She got her first prosthetic from Stanmore Hospital in the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital when she was two-and-a-half years old to help her ride her scooter.
When she was three years old, Millie wanted to start gymnastics to do roly-polys, and began in the younger group, doing acrobatics and tumbling.
She received a new prosthetic hand to help her on the bars at her gymnastic class but decided to go without.
“They got her a prosthetic for gymnastics which was really good, but it’s taken her a long time to find out what she needed," Kathryn continues.
“She tried it for a little while but found it easier without it."
Millie joined the older gymnastics group in 2021 to try different equipment, where she has gone from strength to strength, moving up four grades over two years.
Kathryn said: “It’s such a passion of hers and she’s now constantly doing it.
"Even when she hurts herself, she gets up and keeps going.”
Millie experiences pain in her thumb, which is fully formed but much thinner, unlike that of an able-bodied person.
When she does gymnastics the muscles in her thumb have to work harder and take on a great deal of extra strain.
Kathryn said: “Millie is very accident prone, and she's had a few falls.
“Recently she was at a summer camp, and she fell off the bars and fell on her left arm and hurt herself.
“The hospital is very used to her though; she gets in a sling, and she’s sent home.”
In June, Millie won the vault category in her club’s competition, where she was competing against thirty other girls.
This victory made her even mor