Fernando Loses His Fingers in an Explosion
Fernando is 30 years old. His profession was agricultural veterinary. A field that he was able to enter after years of study. He is from a tiny town in the lowlands of Bolivia. Fernando only lives with his wife and no children.
The Prosthetics 
What it Looks Like
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Fernando accidentally injured his right hand, and he lost parts of 3 fingers in October 2019. The accident occurred while he was walking to the market on a beautiful spring day. During that fateful outing, he happened to notice a metal object on the ground. Out of curiosity, he bent down and picked it up. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an explosive. In Bolivia, explosives are quite common and unregulated. They are frequently used in the mining industry by individual family miners – even young boys use dynamite when working in the mines. Sometimes the dynamite doesn’t go off as planned, and then it is casually discarded.
Luckily for Fernando, it was not a large explosion, and it “only” blew 3 of his fingers off. Fernando was bleeding and in agony, but he managed to stagger home.
Luckily, a friend of Fernando heard of an organization in Bolivia that makes prosthetic fingers, hands, and arms using 3D printers. That organization is called CreoTec. Bolivians Without disAbilities supports CreoTec by providing funds to make prosthetic limbs for patients like Fernando. After an extensive evaluation, it was decided that Fernando would make great use of three prosthetic fingers. As you can see in the photo, Fernando can once again write with his hand, and he can now believe in his future again.
If you would like to help more Bolivian amputees like this one, then please donate now.
