13th August 2026
Lucas, in his 30s, lives in Seattle with his rescue cat and works behind the bar at a local brewery. He wore a crowdfunded Hero Arm for five years before his insurance tried to deny his upgrade to a Hero PRO not once, but twice. This year, he was finally fitted with his Hero PRO. We caught up with him about pulling pints, climbing Mount Rainier, and what it actually took to get his device approved.
I work at a local brewery here in Seattle, pouring local brewed beers, but my favorite are the IPAs. The design of the bionic hand earns me a few extra tips. The wrist flexion is one of my favorite features, I can angle the hand while I’m pulling pints, which makes it a lot more natural.
Working from home for three years to going into physical work has taken some getting used to, especially when I worked my first eleven-hour busy shift during a World Cup Seattle home game.
Watch Lucas pull a pint with his Hero PRO.
I’d worn my Hero Arm for five years, it was crowdfunded originally, so I knew what I wanted when it came time to upgrade to a Hero PRO. What I didn’t expect was to get denied twice. The first time, the reason given was that it “wasn’t medically necessary.” I’m fairly sure whoever reviewed it thought I was asking for a completely different type of prosthesis.
It took persistence to get them to actually look at what was being requested, but my Open Bionics prosthetist, Elise, stayed on it every step of the way. Eventually, it went through.
Elise was always on top of it. The only roadblocks were ever on the insurance side.
The Hero PRO is noticeably more comfortable to wear, the softness and the ventilation make a real difference over a long shift. The grips are a lot faster too. It felt a little heavier than my old arm at first, but that went away within the first week. Even something as small as holding a mug with both hands is easier now, the fingertips were designed to be grippier.
My Hero Arm was already comfortable to wear, and because the socket fit was already right, I didn’t need to get re-cast for the Hero PRO. Open Bionics just hit re-print on my existing socket, which made the upgrade a lot more straightforward.
Lucas holding ice with his Hero PRO.
Watch Lucas feed a squirrel with his Hero PRO.
Wireless and water-resistant are by far my favorite things about it. I don’t need to go into a clinic unless something needs tweaking, and even then, they’ll usually just reprint from the last file rather than starting over. A lot of updates come straight through the Sidekick app, too, so grip upgrades get downloaded right to the hand without a clinic visit at all.
I really like kayaking, usually out for two to three hours at a time with breaks. For that, I use the Gripster activity attachment, which is fully waterproof and swivels, so I can actually grip the paddle now instead of just resting it against my arm. The hand itself has held up well too. “I got brave enough and just stuck it in the water one day, no worries.” I’ve also gotten caught out wearing it in the rain plenty of times. No issues there either.
This year I climbed Mount Rainier, 7,000 feet, up an incline of 55 to 60 degrees in places. It’s the highest I’ve ever climbed, and my first climb ever, in Washington or anywhere. I’ve done canyons in Utah before, but nothing close to this high. I carried a full backpack the whole way up the steepest sections, and the arm never held me back.
I really appreciated the ventilation in the PRO on a climb like that, and it was cute to see the wildlife take to it too.
Lucas’ first-ever climb, and the highest he’s reached: 7,000 feet on Mount Rainier.
I also snowboard and raft through Shriners, that’s just me, not the arm. At the end of the day, you know what’s best for you.
Outside of the brewery and the mountains, I volunteer as a camp counselor through Shriners in Salt Lake City. I’ve been doing it for over ten years now, I actually started out as a camper myself. The camp gives limb different teens a chance to get active and make friends with other kids who just get it, and being able to go back and be part of that now means a lot to me.
Lucas’ insurer denied his Hero PRO upgrade twice, the first time on the grounds it “wasn’t medically necessary.” With Elise staying on top of the process throughout, what could have stalled indefinitely on the insurance side eventually turned into an approval, and a device that now goes behind the bar, on the water, and up a mountain.
Insurance can be the hardest part of getting a Hero PRO. Talk to your local Open Bionics clinic about funding support and next steps. Register to request more information.
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