Andrew's life as a prosthetic hand user

“I’ve been wearing a prosthetic hand literally longer than I can remember, and I never felt that there was anything I couldn’t do, but when I got my i-Limb, at 34, everything got better. The conforming grip and different grip patterns meant that every aspect of my limb use was improved in some way. It all seems like small stuff, but it all adds up to a better quality of life. I’ve always been able to tie my shoes, but it turned out I’d never tied them tightly until I had the i-limb prosthetic hand. I’ve been an i-limb user for 6 years now and the pleasure I take in being able to hold a knife or a vegetable peeler to prepare food has not gone away. I can do things faster and more precisely than before, and I do things with my hands, and less so with shoulder and elbow compensation. I’m lucky to have an i-limb.”

Andrew Gannon (1980) is a conceptual artist and art educator living in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Andrew has a congenital limb difference; he was born with no lower left arm. He has been wearing a prosthetic hand since he was 18 months old and has used a myoelectric limb since the age of 4.

He received his first i-Limb in 2014, trialling it for NHS Scotland. Shortly after receiving this prosthetic hand, he began working with Research and Development at Touch Bionics, becoming an official Össur ambassador at the beginning of 2019.