James Farnsworth
As a bilateral upper extremity amputee, James understands the challenges end-users face in their daily lives and has embraced the opportunity to work within the prosthetic industry and help develop this amazing technology.
This is his journey with the COVVI Hand.
Losing my hands was the most difficult thing I have ever encountered in my life. Nobody can possibly realise just how much one’s world can be turned upside down by such tragic circumstances.
I was always an active person before the accident, as an avid outdoorsman, dirt-bike racer, mountain biker, skier, off-roader, and ice hockey player. I went through severe depression and felt emotions I had never before experienced. My life and career as I knew it had come to an abrupt halt.
After a couple of months, I received hooks, which were clumsy and frustrating to use. My upper body constantly ached from the strain of the body-powered apparatus. I rarely wore them because of this and found myself struggling to function with just my residual limbs.
I always felt self-conscious in public, defeated and broken, always needing help with simple tasks thinking this was how it was going to be for the rest of my life.
I began looking into the myoelectric prosthetic options, but most just looked like a poor attempt that would make the awkwardness worse; being disproportionate and seeming to provide little to no benefit in function as a bilateral user. As soon as I laid eyes on the COVVI Hand, I knew it was the one. The styling is phenomenal, futuristic, and an obvious artificial hand that would start fun conversations. I said to myself “That is something I want to wear”.
Having no experience with myoelectric devices, there was a learning curve, but the satisfaction I have in being able to use something that both looks and functions well is an incredible feeling that pushes me to want to use them every chance I get and maximise my greatest potential with them. I’ve found the COVVI Hand to be a truly personalised experience with incredible customisation, from its cosmetics to offering different colours, to its actual function and programming to suit what works best for me.
“Previously when people would look at me with the hooks, I felt they were looking at a disability, but now when they look at me with the COVVI Hands, I feel like a badass superhero, and it makes me smile. I have no words to properly explain how much the COVVI Hand is already changing my life for the better. It’s empowering, giving me my life back, making me want to help other people with limb differences, and this is only the start of my COVVI journey.”
