PLYMOUTH, MN (CNN) -- A Minnesota man is getting a second chance today after losing part of his arm and hand in a work accident. He's the first civilian to get the "Michelangelo Hand."
Matt Razink says, "I really like new things and trying out new things...and trying to see how we can make them better."
So Matt Razink was the perfect patient to get the Michelangelo hand, a high-tech prosthetic that does a lot more than the more basic model he'd been using. Razink says, "So we've got a compliant wrist, a moveable thumb, and fingers that all come together."
He was fitted at Advanced Arm Dynamics in Plymouth which has been working with its Austrian manufacturer for years. Razink says, "It's more natural to me. It's like it used to be, before I lost my arm."
Matt lost his left hand in a rock-crushing machine at work. But the nerves in his arm are still there; so now wires and electrodes in his high-tech forearm help Matt control the Michelangelo hand a lot like his natural one. Razink says, "If I want to close it I think wrist down like this...and wrist down."
They're still tweaking things, using Bluetooth connected to a computer, but Matt looks pretty comfortable after only a day of practice. A far cry from the various hand attachments he used to screw on for different tasks. Razink says, "This comes off, and then I can put another attachment on, like that."
Now, he doesn't need to make any changes. He has a hand for all occasions, and a whole new outlook. Razink says, "It's opening up a whole new way of life for me, getting me back to be like I used to be."