ESPNF1 Staff
August 15, 2011
Matthew James received his new hand after writing to Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn © Touch Bionics
Mercedes has helped one of its young fans by collaborating with a bionics company to supply him with a new prosthetic limb.
Matthew James, who is 14 years old, has a lower arm deficiency that means his left arm stops at his wrist. James wrote to Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn explaining his problem and that his current prosthetic hand only has an open and close mechanism, just allowing him to carry out the more simple everyday tasks. In his letter he also explained that he would like to be able to afford a hand that offered him a much wider range of movements, called the i-LIMB Pulse from Touch Electronics.
With James attending the same school as Brawn in Reading, he was invited to visit the factory and Mercedes got in contact with Touch Electronics to evaluate if something could be done. As a result, Mercedes was able to secure an i-LIMB Pulse free of charge in exchange for access to the team's technology services.
Having joked in his letter that he would give Mercedes advertising space, James said that the impact on his life was going to be substantial, and that the team would have an emblem on the hand.
"It is just amazing," James told The Daily Telegraph. "My old artificial hand was not great, it had a pretty basic open close mechanism similar to a clamp. But with this one I can do everything, it is just like the real thing. It is going to make such a big difference to my life. It also looks really cool - the outer-shell is see-through so you can actually see the mechanics working. They are even going to put a little Mercedes badge by the wrist."
Brawn said that he had a personal interest in the initiative, and that the whole team was happy to help out.
"Matthew's letter to the team was very touching. It was of particular personal significance given my close relationship to Reading School. Looking closely at the i-LIMB Pulse, we realised how much our technologies in Formula One had in common with those used to create this cutting-edge prosthetic limb. We realised we may be able to offer some synergies to Touch Bionics to assist their invaluable research.
"Meeting Matthew, and hearing first-hand how the new device would improve his quality of life, was a pleasure and I am delighted that our initial contact has now led to such a positive conclusion."
Credit: ESPN F1 (en.espnf1.com)
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