Chinese farmer creates bionic arms after accident

Chinese farmer Sun Jifa, whose arms were blown off in a freak explosion, has built himself bionic arms as he could not afford the pricey hospital ones.

The 51-year-old lost both his hands when a bomb he was making for some blast fishing detonated prematurely, but could not afford to shell out for the prosthetic arms the hospital offered him, instead coming up with his own handy solution.

Sun spent eight years creating the prototype for his own metal hands, which function using a series of wires and pulleys inside the shell, allowing him to grip and hold objects.

He said: 'I survived but I had no hands and I couldn't afford to buy the false hands the hospital wanted me to have - so I decided to make my own.

'I control them with movements from my elbows and I can work, love normally and feed myself just like anyone else.

'The only drawback is that steel is quite heavy so they're tiring to wear and get hot or cold in the extremes of summer and winter.'

Having built his own mental hands, Sun no longer sees why anyone should have to pay an extortionate amount to a hospital for bionic arms, and is planning to develop the design for others in a similar situation.

'I made this from scrap metal for virtually nothing. There is no need to pay hospitals a fortune,' he said.


/metro.co.uk/