Ruth-Evelyn Pranke — R.E. to almost everyone — was born on 19 April 2012 in Minnesota, nine weeks early and without arms. The condition is bilateral phocomelia: the upper limbs never formed. She spent 103 days in hospital and learned the rest of childhood with her feet. She eats, drinks, brushes her teeth, colors, uses a phone and gives high-fives that way. Prosthetic arms were offered. She declined. She wanted to look like other kids.

What she also wanted, at five, was a two-wheel bike.

Her mother, Karlyn, took the request to Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, where R.E. had been a patient since she was one. Prosthetist Michelle Hall did not invent new arms. She built a harness that sits on the shoulders and back and links to the handlebars. Early versions used PVC and braces; later fittings were refined as R.E. grew. She steers by turning her torso. Pedals and balance do the rest. The first ride was at Wentworth Park in Mendota Heights. Her mother talked about the giggle.

The device is not a miracle and not a replacement for hands. It is a steering interface for a child who already had strong legs and a clear idea of what “like other kids” meant on a Saturday. R.E. later swam, clog-danced, skied black-diamond runs and served as a Children’s Miracle Network champion. People still stare. Her line, at nine, was: “Don’t even try, bestie.”

Phocomelia is rare. Adaptive cycling gear is not rare once a clinic decides the goal is the activity, not a pair of arms the child does not want. Gillette’s job was to translate a five-year-old’s sentence into hardware that fit a Walmart bike. The rest was R.E. leaning into the turn.

Sources

• Gillette Children’s, “A Girl, a Bike and a Dream: RE’s Story.”
• KARE 11 / KSTP reporting on the first adapted rides (2017).
• Daily Mail / CBS Minnesota profiles; Children’s Miracle Network champion coverage, 2022.
• Comments by Karlyn Pranke and prosthetist Michelle Hall.