Kate’s 3D-printed bionic arm improved her health—and her confidence

At eight years old, the prosthetic arm Kate Kehayes wore weighed almost as much as she did. She describes it as a mannequin arm—clunky, beige, made from heavy metal and ceramic.

Kate was born without her right forearm. In her childhood, having a prosthetic wasn’t helpful. But as she got older, she started to realize the barriers she was facing.

“As I got into my 30s, it just started to become more of a barrier that I couldn’t work around. I was starting to have back pain. When I was trying to do things like yoga, I was off balance,” she said. “So as I was aging, the need for it definitely became evident.”

This realization started her journey into learning more about prosthetics.

“It’s a huge life-changing decision to begin wearing a prosthetic, so there was a lot of fear and anxiety that went into the process,” she said. “I didn’t know the process of getting a prosthetic as an adult or even as a teenager because I had just gone without.”

One day while scrolling Reddit, she noticed a young woman wearing an arm by UK-based Open Bionics that actually matched her personality. It was sleek, black, high-tech—it looked like arm she would want to wear. Termed the Hero Arm, the prosthetic is 3D printed, custom-built for each patient, and capable of lifting about 18 pounds.

“When I was younger, the technology just wasn’t quite there yet,” she said. “But when I started looking into it as an adult, it was like a whole new world. So that really pulled me back into doing some research and getting in touch with Blue Cross NC.”

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) connected with the Hanger Clinic, one of the first clinics to bring the Hero Arm to the United States. Kate credits the clinic, which specializes in state-of-the-art prosthetics, in helping her get the Hero Arm approved through insurance. It was a long journey, but after talking with Kate and consulting with Hanger, her Blue Cross NC policy covered the cost of her Hero Arm, which runs between $10,000 and $20,000.

Getting Kate fitted with the Hero Arm was important to providing her with excellent care in a complex health situation.

“Having health insurance was the only reason I could even think about getting a prosthetic,” Kate said. “It gave me peace of mind that I could at least give it a shot.”