Lending a hand to amputees

Richard van As cut off four of his fingers while working as a carpenter two years ago.

A prosthetic hand made in the US was going to set him back R500000. So he decided to team up with an American special effects artist, Ivan Owen, to design cheap mechanical fingers that cost only R5000 to make.

Now he prints hands for others using 3D printers in his garage.

"My car doesn't park there any more," he said.

Van As has helped more than 190 South Africans needing hands, along with people in Ukraine, Alaska, China, Russia and the US.

His innovation has attracted more than 334000 inquiries from amputees worldwide.

"I've done many things in my life. I've worked as soldier and tradesman but this is the most rewarding."

But when he asked people for help in designing and making a mechanical hand, they all told him it couldn't be done.

"Nobody tells me I can't do something. Now they're saying: 'We should have helped this boy'."

He says he is not in it for the money. He shares his designs for a movable hand on the internet.

"You want a hand? Go and download the design on the internet and find someone to 3D-print it."

Asked why he did not patent the design, he said: "I just want to piss off the Americans. I want to piss off corporations. I don't like them."

Why must people pay so much for hands, he asks. He has set up Robohand hubs in Switzerland, Australia and the US, where people can work together to create hands, share ideas and designs.

He calls on South Africans to support Robohand with donations.

"I want people to give and pay it forward, expecting nothing in return," he says.

His "business" model is not to market the hand or to allow politicians to "use" him.