Hands on with Daniel and Sally

Hands on with Daniel and Sally

The Rotary ‘Hands On Project’ seeks to improve the lives of people who are victims of war by providing and fitting them with prosthetic hands donated and assembled by organisations and individuals from all over the world.

Daniel has always been good at building and repairing things. Electronics, bikes, puzzles and car maintenance — when he heard about ‘Hands On’, he jumped at the chance to help other people with disability.

Daniel teamed up with ‘Hands On’ Project Manager and Community Living Australia Volunteer Sally Charlton who facilitates the assembly and delivery of the prosthesis to those in need.

Taking on the assembly challenge, Daniel said the hand was tricky to put together but he pushed through. 

Sally said that his build was of unusually perfect quality and did not require any adjustments afterwards.

Sally delivered the prosthesis to Kenya and observed the fitting process.

The recipient was a Kenyan called Patrick who lost his hand when he fell into a fire as a child in 1995. 

Patrick is now a husband and father of two children. What was not known beforehand was that Patrick also lives with epilepsy and an intellectual disability. 

Patrick’s Grandfather, Joseph, was very happy for his grandson.

“God Bless and thank you for making this possible,” he wrote.

Mark Kulinski, Chief Executive of Community Living Australia commented that, “As the team at Community Living Australia devote themselves to supporting people with disability, it seems fitting — and profoundly wholesome — that people like Daniel would help others with disability on the other side of the world.”

Daniel said it was a “great feeling” and that he was keen to do more to help people in need.