Ian McDonald

Before losing my right hand I lived a busy life as a full time Firefighter, running a part-time joinery business and being a father to my two young children. I also enjoyed keeping fit by training at the gym and playing football.

Unfortunately this all changed in 2014 after an injury at work left me with severe injuries to my right hand. After years of treatment, physio and some forty operations, in 2018 the decision was taken that my hand would have to be amputated. Although devastating to hear, the actual amputation did not affect me too greatly as I had effectively been unable to use my hand for four years.

After the amputation I was fitted for a body powered prosthetic hook device by the NHS, and while it proved to be functional in some aspects, it had many limitations. Coupled with the fact I regularly had problems with the fit of the socket, it was not really a long term solution.

I was fortunate enough to be put in touch with The London Prosthetic Centre, and at my initial consultation Abdo listened to my needs and what I hoped to achieve by using a prosthetic hand. Not long after this I returned to the Centre to be fitted with my i-Limb Quantum hand, and it is no exaggeration to say it made a huge improvement to my life; many things I had accepted I would never be able to do again were now possible, ranging from small tasks like using cutlery properly again and tying shoelaces, to more ambitious tasks like using power tools again to carry out home improvements such as fitting a new kitchen and bathroom quite literally single-handedly!

Also as a now father of four I was able to help once again around the home and with my children, not only taking on my fair share of the workload once again from my wife Claire to give her a break but regaining my independence at the same time.

I am absolutely delighted with the service I received at The London Prosthetic Centre - Abdo got it right with his suggestions of what would be best for me and was able to bring his ideas to life.

The aftercare has also been exceptional. As expected, and as Abdo made me aware of beforehand, such a bespoke item will require adjustments and tweaking to get it just right. It is also probably fair to say I may have pushed my new hand to its limits at times! However if ever any issues arose, all I had to do was get in touch and Pavlina quickly took care of it and found a solution.

Although I would never wish for anyone to have to use a prosthetic clinic, if the need ever arose I would recommend The London Prosthetic Centre every time.