Zak from Michigan was excited to get his Iron Man Hero Arm so he could ride his bike better and enjoy different experiences. Zak’s mom shares his bionic journey so far.
10-year-old Zak was born without his left hand. Zak lives in Michigan in the US, with his parents and older sister Mia, and is a huge fan of science fiction movies such as Star Wars and the Avengers. At the end of April 2019, Zak was fitted with a Hero Arm at his local Hanger Clinic in Livonia, and he also received super cool Iron Man covers, just in time for the premiere of Avengers: Endgame.
He mastered the new technology straight away and within hours he was riding a bike, reading books, holding binoculars and giving thumbs up to everyone. Zak’s mom was really pleased to see her son getting joy out of using a prosthetic. She said: “To be able to hear him say he can handle the bike better, makes me really excited that he can see the benefit of using tools like this to help him have different experiences.”
“Zak’s previous experience with prosthetics – the more traditional ones that were available to us – they were a little bit heavier and not as user-friendly to him, and so he wasn’t overly excited to use them at the time.” Zak’s mom continued: “The newer technology is lighter, he had more input into the colour and the design, so he felt more part of the process. And so as we heard about the Hero Arm, we thought this might be something really unique that he might be interested in, and absolutely, it was exactly what he was hoping for.”