Amputee ballet dancer appeals for 'en pointe' prosthetic foot

A 15-year-old amputee has appealed on social media for a new prosthetic leg that will allow her to dance on the tips of her toes.

Pollyanna Hope, from Hertfordshire, lost her leg in an accident 13 years ago and dances on a running blade, but wants to do "pointe" work on both legs.

An appeal posted on Twitter with footage of her pirouetting has been viewed more than 330,000 times.

The reaction had been "amazing", her father said.

The post has had more than 200 replies, many of which have offered suggestions of people who might be able to help.

Christopher Hope said: "Social media gets quite a bad rep, [but the reaction] is an indication that there are actually really nice people out there who want to help.

"It's struck a chord which is really nice."

The Harpenden teenager lost her right leg below the knee in an accident that killed her grandmother and seriously injured her mother Sarah, when a bus mounted the pavement at a depot in Mortlake, south London, in 2007.

She has been learning ballet since she was four and took part in the BBC's The Big Life Fix programme in 2018, when inventor and engineer Yusuf Muhammad made her a foot that would allow her to dance on demi-pointe (the balls of her feet).

She now needs a leg with a foot fixed in the "pointe" shape.

"I want to be able to go up en pointe on both legs rather than just one," she said.

Mr Hope said that while the demi-pointe foot had been really good, it was "quite clunky and heavy".

"The idea is the lighter the better because she dances on running blades at the moment and she wants a light leg," he said.

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