Case history

American Independence Day celebrations in 2007 cost Jason Henderson both of his hands. But that wasn’t enough to derail his plans for the future.

Henderson’s family enjoyed fireworks on the family hobby farm, where they raised a herd of Black Angus beef cattle. A few days after the festivities had ended, he was moving unused fireworks when a static charge set off the Salute canister that he was carrying. The Salute is a mortar shell-style noise-making firework equivalent to about a stick-and-a-half of dynamite.

He found himself in hospital, facing an uncertain future without a clear understanding of what options were available to regain some semblance of the life he had enjoyed before. The support of his family and friends was instrumental in his ability to cope with the situation.

“I’ve had a lot of support. I think it makes a big difference. Everyone stuck with me,” Henderson said. “A lot of people came to me in the hospital and said ‘you’re going to be fine’.”

Coincidentally, his accident occurred the same week as the U.S. launch of the Touch Bionics i-LIMB Hand. A family member in the Air Force brought him a newspaper article about the hand and his family set out to see if it could work for him. Almost a year later, Henderson is using two i-LIMB hands and is amazed by the difference they have made in his life.

“I never thought I’d be this far,” he said of the activities he has been able to resume thanks to his i-LIMB Hands. “It’s definitely given me a lot of independence, more than what I thought I was going to have. I didn’t know what the quality of life would be. Actually, it’s pretty much the same.”

During his recovery, he did attempt to use a traditional hook-and-claw prosthetic with shoulder harness, but was disappointed by the results. The device was tiring to use and the uneven distribution of pressure on an object made it difficult to maintain a solid grip without crushing it.

With the i-LIMB Hand, however, he was amazed by how quickly he was able to master fine control. Within hours, he was able to use the opposable thumb and individually powered fingers or ProDigits to pick up a penny and eat a cupcake. Using the i-LIMB Hand, he said, is as “different as night and day from hooks.”

As a bilateral amputee, he is also in the unique position of using two i-LIMB hands, an adaptation that requires he learn that he is no longer left- or right-handed. “You’ve really got to think like you’ve got hands,” he said. “That’s been a big concentration in therapy, using both of them equally and not depending on the one that you were dominant with. They really function both the same.”

Henderson has continued with his post-secondary studies in business at Fairmont State University. While the school does offer services for those with disabilities, such as exam formats that do not require extensive writing, Henderson has regained much of his previous level of function. He estimates that he can write at about 80 per cent of his previous speed, and even something simple, like turning pages, is far easier with the i-LIMB Hand that it was with other prosthetics he has used.

His recovery and his experience with the i-LIMB Hand have convinced Henderson that persistence is critical to resuming a normal life after such a devastating accident.

“You can do whatever you want,” he said. “It’s just a matter of finding a way to do it. It only limits you if you let it. I don’t feel that anybody looks at me any differently. Most people are more interested in learning about the i-LIMB Hand than anything else.”

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