Electronic hands for amputees

At a two-day prosthetic limb distribution camp in April, 65 amputees were fitted with ­battery-operated, electronic ‘Inali’ hands by RC Hiranandani Estate, RID 3142, in a joint project with RC Poona ­Downtown, RID 3131, the Inali Foundation and New Era Informatique.

The camp was held at the ­Hiranandani Foundation School, Thane, being run by the club. While the club got 175 fitments under a CSR grant from the Inali Foundation, “we had a total registration of 1,895 people from across Maharashtra for the camp. With the help of RC Poona Downtown and Inali volunteers, we completed the evaluation of prosthetic requirement for beneficiaries three weeks prior to the camp,” said project chair Dr Namrataa Srivastav. James Dyson from Infosys Social Innovation and Nasscom awardee Prashant Gade, founder, Inali Foundation, assisted the club in the evaluation of the beneficiaries. After the pre-camp screening, the shortlisted amputees were called for fitment at the camp.

The beneficiaries were trained and counselled on how to use the prosthetic hand for their daily chores and activities. “We played a recorded video that showed how to make efficient use of the Inali hand,” said Namrataa. The remaining 91 shortlisted people will be fitted with the prosthetic limb at the Inali Foundation Centre, Pune.

RID 3142 IPDG Kailash Jethani complimented club president Amit Raje, Dr Namrataa, co-chairs Arunima Singh and Anubha Kharabe for making this inter-district limb fitment camp a huge success.

One of the beneficiaries, Dhanashri Sambhaji Bhosale turned emotional after she got the electronic hand. Her husband said, “my wife was born with this deformity. But she is educated and performs all the household chores with just one hand. Now with this new hand her dream of riding a bike like a professional will be fulfilled.”

Vaibhav Vitthal Galande and Madhukar Wadkar, who lost both their upper limbs in an accident, were jubilant as they have got a new lease of life. “I will be able to accomplish big goals in life now that I have got both my hands,” said Wadkar.

PRID Ashok Mahajan, DG Milind Kulkarni and DGN Harsh Makol visited the camp to witness the enthusiasm and joy of the beneficiaries who walked out with a new hope. The battery-operated, switch-based electronic Inali hand comes with a two-year warranty, and the Inali Foundation has distributed 7,000 such limbs to beneficiaries over the last five years.