Born without his left forearm, 50-year-old Trevor Prideaux grew tired of balancing his smartphone on his upper extremity prosthesis. The British catering manager from Wedmore, Somerset has worn an upper extremity prosthesis since he was 3-years-old, but struggled to make phone calls or send texts on his mobile device with only one hand. Prideaux decided to call his prosthetist and technicians from Nokia, who eventually agreed to build a special prosthesis with his Nokia C7 embedded inside the upper extremity device.
Prosthethist Steve Gallichan, technician Les Street and undergraduate worker Sarah Bennett produced a prototype in 5 weeks, according to The Telegraph. They created a laminated fiber cast of the phone and built it into the limb, so Prideaux’s mobile device could fit inside. The docking station is located between Prideaux’s stump socket and the single knob rotary of his prosthetic forearm.
“I can now take calls and make texts just by using my one hand, while the phone sits inside my arm,” Prideaux told The Telegraph. “The phone slots smoothly and securely within my limb and is easily removable, when required. I think this would help a lot of people with prosthetic arms — especially those who were not born with the disability. People who have had motorbike crashes and soldiers who have lost limbs — they could all benefit from this,” he said.
