LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Seven-year-old James Vissing summoned muscle and will to pinch a bubble wand with his prosthetic hand at a therapy session then blew into the soapy mixture and cheered, "Bubbles! Bubbles!"
"Good job, James," his mother, Mirla Vissing, said. "I'm so proud of you!"
The Louisville boy who lost both hands and feet to a virulent form of strep bacteria in 2006 is learning to use an electronic right hand that can open and close when his arm muscle contracts and relaxes.
His family brought home the artificial limb in mid-November, after more than $54,000 in donations poured in following a Courier-Journal story in July. There's also enough money for a new left hand which James will get when he masters the right one as well as continuing care.
"He's doing wonderful," said Mirla Vissing, who is originally from Panama. "I don't know his disability, what it is, because he can do everything. We go everywhere. He's a happy boy."
Larry Johnston of Key Largo, Fla., whose $20,000 donation paid for James' right hand, said he and his wife, Martha, were happy to help through their family's foundation, which helps children around the world.
"We read the article about him; we were just so touched by that," said Johnston, former CEO of what used to be called GE Appliances. "He's such a deserving person. He needed a little support, and I think it will help change his life."
Vissing sent the Johnstons an e-mail thanking them for their generosity and said she's just as grateful to everyone in the community who helped her son get a hand.
"This is great, because he looks at the other kids now and compares his hand to theirs and he feels more like he belongs with his school friends," said Vissing's e-mail, which also quoted James saying: "Thank you for making my dream come true."
Infection forces amputations
Vissing's voice began to break as she recalled the day in May 2006 when James started vomiting and developed a fever that reached 104.5 degrees.
Doctors eventually diagnosed the boy with streptococcal toxic-shock syndrome, which kills more than half its victims. Each year in the United States, there are 10,000 to 15,000 cases of the invasive Group A strep.
The bacteria ravaged James' small body.
He developed an infection in his bloodstream. His kidneys failed. He required medication for severe low blood pressure, which decreased the circulation to his extremities. Gangrene set in, and amputation was the only way to save his life.
James quickly adapted to life without hands and feet. Shortly after getting out of the hospital, Vissing said, he tried to get up the stairs, and she let him.
She placed mats in areas without carpets, and he learned to scoot around and eventually use prosthetic feet He grew to love jumping on a trampoline and coloring with crayons he held with what remained of his arms.
At one point, James got a basic prosthetic hand that lacked electronically aided movement. But while he grew accustomed to his new prosthetic feet, he never got used to his nonfunctional hand.
Meanwhile, the family struggled financially. Vissing, a stay-at home mom who is separated from James' father, said her family gets by largely on child support from her husband, a disabled Army veteran.
Last year, Louisville's Latino community rallied around James to try to get him functional hands.
They proposed giving half the revenue from a Cross Cultural Summit and then continuing to collect donations, and The Courier-Journal published a story a few days before the summit.
Shortly afterward, Adolfo "Ben" Ruiz Sr., co-chairman of the Hispanic Latino Coalition, said they received about $51,000 in donations, including the Johnstons' money and another $20,000 from an anonymous Louisville family. A second wave of donations has continued trickling in, Ruiz said, totaling $3,700 as of last week.
Ruiz said TriCare insurance, which paid for the nonfunctioning hand, hasn't said whether it pay for a new left hand. If it doesn't, Ruiz said donations will. And if it does, the donations will cover refittings James will need about every couple of years as he grows.
"The outpouring has not stopped," Ruiz said. "I was surprised that everyone, in a real rough year, would donate money to his recovery. People really have a heart."
Becoming more adept
James' new hand has given him back his grasp.
Aaron Royster, Louisville branch manager of the Maryland-based Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, said a socket fits over the empty end of James' arm, with a sensor over his arm muscle.
Royster said it required some initial adjustments, which is not unusual.
"He had some problems with the fit some growing pains," Royster said. But on a recent visit to his office, he said, James grabbed a cookie with his new hand and gave high-fives. "He surprised me with how he took off with it. He's embracing the technology."
James practices during twice-weekly occupational therapy sessions at Home of the Innocents, where therapist Marty Kokes said they focus mostly on squeezing and grasping.
Kokes said it was difficult to win James over at first because he functions cognitively around the level of a 2-year-old, a repercussion of his illness and the prescribed medication. But playing songs from the movie "The Lion King" and letting him hold a microphone prompted him to cooperate.
"Some days it's a battle of wills," Kokes said. "But he's catching on."
On a recent morning, Kokes brought James a piece of licorice, tapped on his prosthetic hand and said, "Open up, hand." James grabbed the candy in his hand and brought it to his mouth.
Later, Kokes brought him large, round crayons and watched him draw a snowman. Then she put him on a swing, where he grabbed a rope with his new hand and smiled as she pushed.
"Swing, Marty," James called out.
At home, Vissing said James uses his new hand about 20 minutes out of each hour taking it off sometimes because it slows him down and he wants to go fast.
But she said he uses it more each day, and it's opening new opportunities. This week, she said, James is meeting with Louisville art teacher Frank Richmond, who plans to teach him to paint with his prosthetic.
James "looks at his hand, and I like to see him how he looks at himself and (says) Wow,"' Vissing said. "I hope he (will) have a normal life, like other kids. And he's doing it."
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
