The same smile, the same cap, the same joy of (over) living. Since our last meeting, almost nothing has changed at Jonathan Bour. Almost… By way of greeting, the Thionvillois hands us a friendly fist. An accomplice “check”, performed with his new bionic arm: “I’ve had it for a week. I already manage to take grapes with my ‘fingers’”, he hastens to reveal to us in the half-open door. The young man of 26 years burns all the stages since his terrible road trip, last June, in Luxembourg. Yes, basically nothing has changed.
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A prosthesis controlled by muscular contractions
“My brain associated the hand with the pectoral. It is by muscle contractions that he controls this latest generation myoelectric prosthesis: “The pectoral allows you to raise your arm. And a contraction of the latissimus dorsi to lower it, ”he explains, executing, almost naturally, the two movements.
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To this basic operation are added other pre-recorded and personalized modes. Two “clamp and drill” functions respond to his taste for mechanics. Beyond the “check”, the “fist” mode allows him to carry the shopping with his left arm. His companion, Estelle, will appreciate… “There’s even a mode for using the computer mouse, but I never use it. »
Last month, Jonathan displayed his pride in being able to “do everything with one arm”. A sense of resourcefulness that had earned him a great reputation on social networks. We did not perceive in him the pressing need to equip himself with an artificial limb.
Today, however, the inhabitant of Garche seems convinced of the benefits of this equipment, powered by a battery with an autonomy of 18 hours: “Even if in my mind I know that it is not my real arm, I instinctively thinks to close the hand. It’s… disconcerting. »
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“I would like to get my job back”
The creation of this technological support, worth “several hundred thousand euros”, was not easy in his case. The Kohnen orthopedic practice, located in Strassen in Luxembourg, had to deal with the degree of amputation in Moselle: “I have a short amputation, which made the development of the socket more complex. Raphaël (Michel) managed it all the same”, do not forget to greet Jonathan.
Which is already projecting on another stage of this flash re-education: “I would like to find my job as a crane operator in Luxembourg. My boss is ready to set up a workstation for me. I can’t see myself staying at home to collect my disability allowance. I just have to wait for the green light from occupational medicine. »
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