The Man Who Built His Hands Back

[phuket076]

A man who lost both hands when a homemade bomb exploded has finally created a new pair of arms after eight years of planning. Sun Jifa could not afford the hospital's prosthetic limbs after the explosive for blast fishing detonated prematurely, but desperately needed to be able to work on the family farm. That's when the 51-year-old from Guanmashan, Jilin province, northern China, decided to create his own prosthetics hands out of scrap metal. (story continues below)

But it wasn't easy. It took him 8 years of planning and designing (with no engineering education) to create artificial hands, made from scrap, inexpensive metals. He operates them using only his elbows and what remains of his arm, to set in motion a series of pulleys. He can now use them for almost any human hand position, taking him from an invalid to a productive member of his family.

The hands are far from perfect - they can be heavy for some, hot or cold according to the weather. But for the many poor that cannot afford the hospital prices - this design would be a godsend.

Sun can now work and help those that have helped him over these immensly difficult 8 years. But not only that, he plans to develop the design for other similarly disabled people. 'I made this from scrap metal for virtually nothing. There is no need to pay hospitals a fortune,' he said.