“What do you miss most about not having a hand?”

Lanie (L) and Alex (R) Jones interview their father, Eric, about his bionic hand.

Eric was one of the first 10 people in the U.S. to be fitted with a bionic hand.

To see a photo of Eric Jones’ hand, click here.

Listen to

Recorded in Mamaroneck, NY.

Credits

Produced by Michael Garofalo.

Facilitated by Lily Percy.

Transcript

Click here to read the transcript for this story.

Interview transcript

Laine Jones (LJ): How did you get your bionic hand, Dad?

Eric Jones (EJ): On the Internet.

LJ: Did you just go to Google and look up um, bionic hand?

EJ: I don’t remember exactly but I was looking for a prosthetic and I found this bionic hand. It’s a glove that fits on the stump and there’s a sensor that picks up a muscle signal in the palm of my hands and I flex the muscle and the fingers move and they close all at once and then I flex it again and then the fingers open.

LJ: What do you miss most about not having a hand?

EJ: Um, I miss playing the piano because I can play the piano when you sing Lainie. And I can’t throw the baseball yet but I’m trying to figure out how to do that so that we can play catch Alex.

Alex Jones (AJ): Yeah. Do you get tired of people asking about your missing hand?

EJ: Not really, people get curious. But it was pretty cool when I came to show and tell in second grade, right?

AJ: Yeah that was cool.

EJ: What do you guys think about Dad’s bionic hand?

LJ: Darth Vader. I just … Darth Vader just pops into my head and so does Luke Skywalker cause they both have robotic hands.

AJ: What was it like for you when we came to visit you in the hospital for the first time?

EJ: Oh it was awesome cause I hadn’t seen you guys in a long, long time.

LJ: For months.

EJ: But I was a little nervous that you guys would be scared and you were gonna be sad but when you guys came into the hospital room the first time you just kind of hung out with the old dad in the bed. And most kids, if their dad got this sick would probably not handle it quite the way that you guys did, which I’m very proud of. Because I drop things all the time, I spill things all the time—

LJ: Every single day.

EJ: I need help from you guys all the time so one of the things that I admire most about you guys is that you’re very patient and you help your dad.

LJ: Thank you Dad.

EJ: Well thank you. These were some great questions.