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Four years ago, a resident of London, James Young, was hit by a train by an absurd accident. At that moment, his life changed forever. Young, 22, lost his left arm and left leg below the knee and underwent twelve surgeries to regain his former face and body. Since then, he has been struggling every day with the consequences of a terrible disaster. Initially, he was given a conventional prosthetic arm with a hook at the end, but he never learned to live with it. Young all the time thought that people were looking at him, and he preferred to do without him. But then he met with the video game producer Konami, who was looking for amputated gamers.
Young loves games so much that he even learned to play them with one hand. His favorite character is Punished Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series. It is of great importance to him, because Snake also lost his hand. The Konami team hoped to find someone who would like to help them develop a new cutting edge prosthesis to mark the launch of Metal Gear Solid 5.
The new prosthesis was developed specifically for Young and combines the most advanced technologies, including the ability to control using sensors connected to the shoulder muscles. It was designed by Sophia De Oliveira Barata, world renowned artist, author of alternative prostheses and founder of the Other Body Parts project. She rose to fame after inventing an unusual leg prosthesis for pop star Victoria Modest. Since Young loves video games and Konami pays the bills, it was decided to make a futuristic cyber prosthetic arm that looks like it was taken from a sci-fi movie.
The hand, invented by Barat, features smooth metallic lines, LEDs and various gadgets that will make any gamer jump for joy. It has a built-in laser pointer, flashlight, clock and even a USB port for charging your phone. Yes, by the way, purely for the sake of fun, Barat mounted a drone in his shoulder, which can fly around Young and entertain him in every possible way. The prosthesis is attached to the body with special belts with built-in sensors that activate it.
Although the design of the prosthesis was developed by Barat, the technical stuffing was in charge of Open Bionics, famous for its bionic prostheses. She has an improved version of a 3D printed prosthesis, a high-tech robotic device. It can lift anything from a grocery bag to small items like coins and pens. The prosthesis seems to be made of metal, but in fact it is a special soft material, which, one must think, is more to the liking of the cheerful and good-natured Young. Definitely a much better option than the Hook Prosthesis that the UK's National Health Service originally suggested.
Since the prosthesis is just a prototype, it cannot replace Yang's real hand. You need to take it off before you shower or go to bed. In addition, it weighs 4.5 kg, so it is difficult to wear it for a long time. Belts are also hard to get used to, so Young takes them off often. The technology itself has not yet been finalized, so the prosthesis needs to be periodically returned for maintenance. But none of this in any way diminishes Young's joy.
In fact, this Metal Gear Solid prosthesis is just the first of several planned cybernetic devices that it has been promised. It will be followed by a bionic leg that will be physically connected to the body. Doctors plan to implant a titanium rod into Young's bone, which will then be fitted with a prosthesis. As a result, he will experience less pain, be able to move more naturally, and carry more weight on his leg. He hopes that someday the prosthetic arm will also be attached directly to his body, eliminating the annoying bundle of belts.
Unfortunately, no health service, including the UK, can afford such prostheses, so Young had to collect $ 130,000 on his own to make them. He turned to users of the GoFundMe platform for help. Recently, the BBC released a documentary about Young and his unique prosthesis, titled Bodyhack: Metal Gear Man.
