25-year-old Abel comes from the Yungas region of Bolivia where he previously worked in agriculture and security with his family. In the course of one day, Abel’s life was changed forever. One sunny Saturday afternoon, Abel was swimming in a local river with his friends when he noticed a strange object on the ground. Upon further investigation, Abel and his friends reasoned that the mysterious object was a pack of fireworks. Seemingly harmless fun at the time, Abel’s friends dared him to light it. Horrifically, the fireworks exploded immediately on Abel, who received the impact directly. The explosion knocked him over, leaving him bleeding out on the riverbank from his hands, chest, and face.

His friends, shocked and assuming he had passed away, left him for dead and ran away in fear. Luckily, two women passing by later that evening noticed him and called the police. He was taken to a hospital where he woke up to learn that he had suffered vision problems and the loss of both his arms. To pay the bills, his family was forced to sell their cows, one of their main sources of income. Fortunately, Bolivians Without disAbilities was able to partner with CreoBolivia to provide Abel with two prosthetic arms. Despite the explosion, Abel and his family are optimistic regarding his future with a prosthetic implant.