GEORGETOWN, SC (WBTW) – Community members in Georgetown are stepping up to help grant a local 13-year-old one of his biggest wishes.
Will Burbage was born with one of his arms missing below the elbow and a GoFundMe page has raised nearly $14,000 to help him get a robotic arm.
“I thought it would be really cool to have something that makes me feel like everyone else,” said Burbage.
His mother, Shannon, has been working with their insurance company but it’s been a battle.
“The problem is, it’s a pre-existing condition,” she added.
While Burbage waits for his prosthetic to come in, he’s busy playing baseball and even started football this summer.
“I love getting in the batter’s box and feeling the feeling of just wanting to swing the bat and hit the ball out of the park,” said Burbage, who’s played baseball for nine years.
Burbage has already been able to try on a prosthetic similar to the one he will get in a few weeks.
“It was kind of weird because it was the wrong hand,” he said. “And it felt weird because it was the first time I ever used my muscles in my nub for actually opening and closing a hand.”
Will’s mother said they never treated Will any different but he knows he’s not like everyone else.
“I guess for me I don’t think anything of it,” she said. “It’s normal for me.”
She’s excited to get her son something he’s always wanted but doesn’t want it to change him.
“Honestly, I hope he realizes he’s just as normal without it as he is with it,” said Burbage. “I hope it makes him feel like he is as good as everyone else and that he doesn’t really have to have it to fit in with everyone.”
Will hopes to have the robotic arm by the time school starts. He said he’s looking forward to cooking with it but will probably keep it off the ball field for a while.
“I have been told I can’t do things,” said Burbage. “But all my friends I hang out with help me through playing the game and feeling like everyone else.”
