Archives for February 2007

I had an epiphany the other day, I was all excited because I had contacted a company called Touch Bionics (based out of Scotland) about their i-Limb hand (see picture). I’ve been following them since I came across their website last year, just salivating to get a look at the myoelectric hand they’ve been developing.

Anyhow, thought I’d drop them an email to introduce myself and low-and-behold they kindly replied asking to learn a little more about my situation.

And then it occurred to me…I currently use a body powered hook day-to-day, most often than not I don’t even use my harness, so it’s just a passive device I use for driving and pushing things around. It’s functional, sure better than nothing and I’ve seen others who have become pretty adept with one…but it ain’t no hand.

And there came the realization, why should I accept this, why should any upper limb amputee accept this as the status quo. Even myoelectric hands that work off muscle impulses are typically no more than an electrically controlled hook (open/close), maybe with added wrist rotation.

I want more, much more, I’m raising my standards. I can sit here and wait for advances to occur, wait for it to filter into mainstream, hope one day I get a replacement hand, or, I can go out there and be part of the process. I’ve decided my mission in life (after Kaboodle of course) is to pursue the most advanced prosthetics there are, to search out the best people and work with them, help push development to the next step. I want to be an evangelist, to let others know what is feasible…but, most of all I want a new hand, no compromises, no excuses! I’ll make do with what I’ve got for now, I’m not complaining, but I’m not willing to accept this is as good as it gets.

I’m looking forward to further discussions with Touch Bionics, they seem the closest to bringing the next generation of artificial hand to market so far. I’ll keep you posted.

February 18th 2006, I came to sitting on the ground in my paraglider harness after having collided with power lines, a mis-adventure I was lucky to survive. A year later and I guess I can reflect a little on what has happened since.

It’s strange, that still, all I can remember prior to the accident was the moment I saw the power lines in front of me as I was headed in to land. I can’t recall the 10 minutes or so that it must have taken to fly from where I last remembered being in the air to this precarious location

You would think something like this would have a profound impact on your life; shake you up; make you realize what’s important; maybe find a new purpose to it all. Well, to be honest, not much has changed, maybe it’s too early to judge, but, life goes on.

Don’t get me wrong, I feel very fortunate to be alive and for me the fact that I’ve been able to get back to life, so fully, so quickly is pretty darn amazing. I don’t know if I need to find anything more significant than that.

I never imagined something like this would happen (who would?), losing a hand wasn’t at the top of the list of things I figured for my future . I’ve enjoyed participating in a number of “risk” sports and in hindsight part of that enjoyment required a suspension of disbelief that anything would happen…even though there were numerous people who it did happen to each year.

Do I wish I’d never gone paragliding that day? You bet! And at the same time, there’s  part of me that knows I have grown with the experience, I feel stronger for the experience. To face adversity and come out the other side smiling gives you a sense of certainty about life. So I’d love to have my hand back, but, I don’t want to lose who am I today. I’m a better person, a better husband and I’m happy.

Losing a limb doesn’t need to be the end of your life and how you handle it is down to you. You decide the meaning, the significance you attach to a situation. It’s all about your state of mind and the state it’s in is down to you.

Interestingly, searching google for the phrase “It was a year ago today” turns up about 16,400 results, I guess that’s 16,401 now…

It was my birthday at the beginning of the month and I decided that, since I failed to make some New Year resolutions, it was time to make some birthday resolutions. So I’ve decided I’m going to get back in shape and get down the gym again. I haven’t done any regular excercise since the accident nearly a year back now. I dabbled with Yoga again, but with my work schedule at Kaboodle I just haven’t been getting home in time to go consistently.

As of Monday though I’ve embarked on my new regime of exercising at least 5 times a week and abstaining from alcohol (at least for the next 2 months). My goal is to lose about 12lbs in weight and get my waist back to 32″ again. Now I’m not saying I’m fat, or particularly overweight, but with each passing year I do seem to have gained a little extra padding around the middle.

Using my “grip prehensor” attachment I’m able to work out pretty well in the gym using the machines, (for free weights I think I’d have to get a special attachment to lock onto the bars). It works well when I’m pushing, but, if I’m pulling (doing lat pull downs, for example) my socket keeps coming off…a little disconcerting to be pulling down to then have everything go “twang” and look up to see my arm hanging off the lat bar above my head. Probably even more disconcerting for everyone else.

You see, the problem is, my arm has shrunk now to the extent that it doesn’t maintain solid suction in my socket anymore. Looks like another trip back to my prosthetist for a new socket…let’s hope my insurance company doesn’t mind coughing up again.