i-Limb offers wounded soldier new hope

STONEY POINT, N.C. -- Zach Fincannon can aim and shoot. That’s an amazing accomplishment, because Zach has only one hand.

Zach is a war casualty, injured in a gun battle in Iraq in 2004. Doctors in the field and in Germany saved Zach's life.

"I heard a loud pop, looked to my left and saw my arm dangling," he said from his hospital bed in Germany in 2004. WCNC followed Zach through his treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. At times it seemed hopeless, useless as Zach struggled to do simple tasks like pick up a cup.

But new technology is changing that. Zach is the first person in North Carolina to receive an i-Limb Hand.

"All five digits will articulate, close around an object," said Sam Brouillette, Zach's Certified Prosthetist from Metrolina Regional Prosthetic-Orthotic Center in Charlotte. The hand is different from existing hands because all five fingers can move, on their own. Other hands operate more like a clamp, with only two fingers able to move.

Because of the new hand, Zach can now drive easier, change his daughter's diaper, hold a CD and yes, he can also do archery. He says he feels like he can once again dream.

"I feel whole again. I have two hands now. It gives me hope to do the things for her and hunt and do stuff I want to do, need to do," he said.

The i-Limb hand was designed in Europe, driven by the war and the number of soldiers coming home without a limb. It can cost up to $50,000 depending on the technology needed to fit an individual. In Zach's case, the Veterans Administration paid for the hand when Brouillette told them about the latest technology.