A 10-YEAR-OLD schoolboy who lost his hands aged just 3 can use a knife and fork for the first time thanks to his new £30,000 (US$42,900) bionic limb.

    Alan Gifford, from Swansea, Britain, has grown up unable to enjoy activities that most youngsters take for granted but thanks to his i-Limb ultra, a robotic hand joining onto his right wrist, he can have fun with everyone else.

    A rare infection during his earlier years saw Alan’s hands amputated, but his friends and family have since rallied around and raised the thousands he needed to enjoy a brighter future.

    His mother Hannah Jones, 32, said, “It’s made a huge difference to his life — he’s more confident. He’s now able to write one-handed, he’s able to ride a bike and he’s able to eat with a knife and fork, which is something he’s always wanted to do.

    “I can’t thank everybody who’s helped us enough. I’m happy for him. It’s been long and hard but we got there.”

    After his operation in Scotland, Alan became the second-youngest person ever to be fitted with such technology.

    His family now hopes to raise enough money for him to be fitted with a second bionic hand in the future.

    The plucky youngster endured a tough start to his life, suffering close to 40 operations because of a heart defect — another factor that led to his hands being amputated.

    The i-Limb, made by U.S.-based firm Touch Bionics, is controlled by muscle signals to open and close the hand’s life-like fingers.(SD-Agencies)