Chinese farmer makes prosthetic arms out of scrap metal

Most people don't realize that prosthetic limbs, which normally cost a fortune, could be made of simple scrap metal and still be functioning.  Sun Jifa, however, discovered this for himself when he couldn't afford to buy prosthetic limbs that the hospital offered.

A Chinese farmer, Sun Jifa was 51 years old when a bomb he was designing for blast fishing exploded before it was finished; he was left without either of his arms from the elbow down. After his treatment in the hospital, doctors suggested that he buy a pair of prosthetics to wear, as he farmed to provide for his family, requiring both arms to work. Jifa couldn't afford prosthetics though, but that didn't make them any less necessary. So he decided to build his own using scrap metal and other materials that he had. It took him eight years to plan and prototype the metal arms, but they are finally functioning. Inside the shell contains pulleys and wires, and each hand only weighs around 1.98 pounds (0.9 kg).

Apparently Jifa can control the limbs with movement from his elbows, granting him the ability to work, eat, and function like anyone else. The steel in the prosthetics does seem to easily retain extreme tempatures however, making them uncomfortable to wear in Winter and Summer. All the same, the Chinese farmer is glad he proved that people don't have to pay a fortune to gain use of their arms again, and now he plans to continue work on the design to help others who are disabled as well.




 - Info from OddityCentral, additional info and images from Swisswuff