Mike Bond
Prosthetic Patient
Mike Bond was working as a machinist when he suffered a tragic workplace injury. After his sleeve got caught in machinery, his arm was severed—changing Mike’s life forever.
“I guess I was running on adrenaline, because I didn’t feel any pain. I didn’t even realize my arm was gone at first,” Mike added. “But I could tell from the look on my co-workers’ faces something was wrong.”
Mike’s supervisor applied a tourniquet and rushed him to CVPH where he was treated by board certified hand surgeon, Dr. Marissa Matarrese of CVPH Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery.
With the CVPH on-site hand clinic Dr. Matarrese is able to better care for her patients like Mike, who lost more than his arm. He had also lost his confidence. Under Dr. Matarrese’s care and with the help of Rebecca McCamridge, a certified hand therapist and senior occupational therapist at the CVPH Hand Clinic, Mike was able to regain that confidence. When Rebecca realized Mike could still contract some of his finger muscles, she knew he could benefit from a high-tech prosthesis and he was motivated to give it a try.
"As a music lover, part of me had died. I began to ask myself if I’d ever be able to hold my guitar again."
- Mike“I thought Michael would be a good candidate for a myoelectric hand versus a standard (cable-style) system, so I started researching,” Rebecca said.
More advanced than traditional prosthetics, myoelectric hands, which are tailor made for each client, offer Mike seven types of movement. ”It’s a huge advancement to the older style prosthetics,” Rebecca added.
The myoelectric hand is used for general grasp and release activities like driving or holding a warm cup of coffee. But more than anything, it’s about giving Mike the ability to do the things he loves again.
Mike continues to work with the CVPH Hand Clinic to improve his daily activities. He has two different attachments to his myoelectric prosthetic—the hook and the hand. Today he’s doing things he never thought he’d do again, like driving or picking up a coffee cup. But more than anything, Mike’s doing the things he loves— like picking up a guitar. And that’s made all the difference in his life.
