A student born without a left arm has a "new lease of life" thanks to her prosthetic limb - with painted-on veins, freckles and acrylic nails."

Zahra Tabibniya, 23, says she felt she needed to hide her disability during her school years.

She tried different prosthetics - including a heavy 2kg limb made of silicone - but says her latest silicone arm is her favourite and allows her to tie her laces and do her hair.

The £700 silicone prosthetic looks natural with painted-on veins, freckles, moles and acrylic nails attached.

Zahra even got her prosthetic skin colour topped up to match her summer tan.



Zahra is delighted to be able to carry her own luggage, check her phone and tie her laces thanks to her prosthetic arm - and says it has given her "much more freedom"."

Zahra, a pharmacy student, originally from Tehran, Iran, but studying at the University of Rome, Italy, said: "I absolutely hated wearing prosthetics, but the one I have now has allowed me to have more freedom."

"My old prosthetics used to be so heavy - weighing up to 2kg."

"But because my new one is so lightweight - I can wear it for much longer, sometimes up to 22 hours."

"People think it’s just a cosmetic thing for me because it looks natural - but it actually has around most of the function an actual arm has."

"Prosthetics started off as a disguise for my disability - but it’s just a part of me now."

At eight months old, Zahra’s parents decided to buy her a prosthetic arm - which she wore until she was three.

Over the last 23 years, she’s had several different types of prosthetics - her first being a "mechanical arm with a sling", as well as a body-powered arm made from silicone, and PVC limb."

But at the age of 21, Zahra was introduced to her current doctor, Dr. Khaghani, at the Behboodteb Clinic, in Tehran, Iran.

She says he was the "first doctor in the world" to use the type of silicone prosthetic Zahra has - and she only needs to get it replaced every two years."

Zahra said: "I’ve had so many different types of prosthetics, but this one has stuck with me."

"So many of the ones I used to have really hindered the way I moved, especially if they were heavier."

"I’d have to move my shoulders in a certain way to get them to work."

"Even my PVC arm had its problems - it would look the same as my other arm for a while, the issue was after a while it would turn very dark brown, so I had to change it to match my skin tone."

While Zahra isn’t worried about using a prosthetic for her appearance anymore - after originally wanting one to "stop the bullies in school"."

The bullying she received growing up also led to her becoming depressed and feeling alienated because of her birth defect.

She said: "I definitely don’t use a prosthetic to disguise my disability now - but my mental health was very much affected by bullies."

"Kids can be very mean, especially between the ages of six and 10. They don’t understand the concept of what it means to be disabled."

"People would call me a monster, or a freak. They’d tell each other not to touch me - because they’d lose their arm, too. It was like a disease."

"Prosthetics gave me a shield - it meant my disability wasn’t easily as spottable."

Zahra says her new prosthetic - which costs her around £700 - is more about functionality, but it is fun to watch it being customised.

Doctors at the Behboodteb Clinic make the silicone arms look as natural as possible - with painted-on veins, freckles and moles.

Zahra even got hers changed in September to match her summer tan.

Acrylic nails are attached to the hands which can be painted - and wearers can get it tattooed.

"I usually get it done just because it’s a fun thing to have," Zahra said."

"I got a new one to match my summer tan - my doctor just painted on top of it."

"The nails are acrylic - they’re the exact same material you get done when you go to the nail salon."

"You can get moles and freckles spray-painted on there - you can actually tattoo them as well, if you want."

Zahra feels like she’s gained "around 60 percent" of function in her left "arm" - and can now do a number of everyday tasks with much more ease than before."

She said: "There’s a reason I use it in my daily life - there are lots of things I can’t do if I don’t have it."

"I put my prosthetic on in order to tie my shoelaces and tie my hair - it’s great if I want to check my phone sometimes too."

"Even things like carrying luggage - it does 60 percent of what a left arm could do for me."

Zahra now takes time to educate people about her disability and documents the making of her prosthetic arm on TikTok.

"For a long time, I just wouldn’t tell people I was disabled," she said."

"I would tell people close to me after a week or two."

"That way, they’d get to know me before judging me."

"But being open about it has actually given me the opportunity to educate people about my disability."

"The kids who bullied me were influenced by the adults around them, just as much as their friends."

"Kids are always going to speculate - their imaginations go wild. But parents and teachers just told them not to ask questions."

"I want people to ask questions. The more questions they ask, the more educated they become."