Rotary Literally Gives a Helping Hand

by Tom Murlowski

​Try to imagine doing all you do each day without the use of a hand…
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That is life for many people who have either been born without hands or have lost them due to unfortunate circumstances. But, Rotary has a solution: prosthetic hands donated by the Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation, which provides prosthetic hands at no cost to anyone needing one.

When Ellen Meadows passed away, her father created the LN4 prosthetic hand. In collaboration with Rotary International and others since 2006, more than 84,000 hands have been distributed and fitted in 100 countries on six continents.

The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday has participated in this effort for two years, providing and fitting 29 prosthetic hands so far. On October 25, members Jose de Anda, Tom Murlowski and Layla Wright-Contreras met with Rotaract Queretaro members to gift and fit two prosthetic hands for Arturo, who lost a hand in a fire, and Carlos, who was born with only one hand.

Jose gave instruction on how to use the hands, and then helped carefully fit and test them. Then, the two men practiced using their hands with a variety of utensils and tools, including pens and paper. Arturo wrote his wife's name, and Carlos chose to doodle a cartoon.

It was marvelous watching them realize how useful their new hands were. The joy shared by these two men was palpable, and an important lesson in how much most of us take for granted. Joked Carlos, “This helps me overcome my ‘factory defect.’” 

More information is available here