Bionic hand fits like a glove

A student who lost his left hand in a car accident has told how his life has been transformed by the world's most advanced prosthetic limb.

Evan Reynolds has been given a new lease of life by the fully functional artificial replacement, which he says he adjusted to in just a few minutes.

Mr Reynolds, 19, from Haslemere, Surrey, was the second person in Britain to be fitted with the advanced i-LIMB hand. The i-Limb was developed by a Scottish company, Touch Bionics, and has won awards for its innovative technology. The total cost including the hand itself and the fitting is about £30,000.



The innovation is controlled by electronic muscle signals from the remaining part of the limb and has five independently powered digits which operate like a human hand when closing around an object.

The rugby-playing sports biology student at University of the West of England (UWE), in Bristol, had dreamed of joining the Army and going to Sandhurst before his left hand ripped off as a friend drove him home following a day out.

Mr Reynolds said his disability has not stopped him playing sport, his greatest passion, nor has it crushed his spirit. He still plays rugby, but makes sure he removes the expensive appendage first. He said: "I love sport, I still play rugby, I still play squash, but I take the i-LIMB off first."