Woman Controls Breakthrough Bionic Arm With Her Mind

With her nerves rewired, Melissa Loomis even has the ability to feel with the arm.

When Melissa Loomis lost her arm two years ago, she began a groundbreaking journey.

She was sitting at home when he two dogs got into a fight with a raccoon. She rushed to help her dogs, and the raccoon bit her right forearm.

"He had the little fangs and they sunk right into my arm," she told Inside Edition.

Loomis' arm eventually became septic, and doctors had no choice but to amputate it.

"I didn't want to die," she said.

Dr. Ajay Seth at Spectrum Orthopaedics made her an incredible promise.

"I'll make you the most advanced amputee the world's ever had," he said.

Seth performed an experimental surgery, never before attempted in the U.S. He rewired Loomis' nerves, tricking her brain into thinking she still had a right arm, and therefore giving her the ability to feel.

Once fitted with a prosthetic robotic arm, Loomis was able to move the hand with her mind.

Seth chronicled his breakthrough achievement in the new book "Rewired."

RELATED STORIES