When Matt Finney developed an infection after surgery to treat blood clots in his right arm, the loss of his thumb and portions of three other fingers was devastating. Facing major physiological changes as well as the psychological blow, Matt says he felt he had to start over in many areas of his life, and the amputations also severely restricted the cement mason’s ability to work. Matt underwent physical therapy and was fitted for a prosthesis, custom-made by his clinician, in an attempt to restore opposition. He tried returning to work with the device but found it bulky and ineffective. In the meantime, Matt says his injured hand and the response it got from strangers left him self-conscious and sometimes he avoided people.
A year after his surgeries, Matt’s clinician obtained Naked Prosthetics’ devices for him, including a ThumbDriver, MCPDriver, and a PIPDriver. Within a month, Matt was fully back to work using both hands, continuing to regain strength and working toward being able to shake hands again. Adapting to the device was easy. “It works so well that I actually wear it pretty much all the time,” Matt says. “I was amazed at what I could do. The more I do, the more I count on this like it’s my real hand.” Matt says his hand still attracts attention, but the attention is positive. “It’s done so much more for me than I thought it would — not just because of how I can use it, but the way it makes me feel about myself.”
