Most people don’t think twice about charging their phone before they go to bed – but Alex Paterson will soon be plugging in his arm overnight as well.
A year ago, he underwent Targeted Muscular Reinnervation (TMR), a rare medical procedure which means he is able to use his mind to control the artificial limb that replaces the one he lost in a motorcycle accident more than 40 years ago.
In April, he’ll undergo another ground-breaking operation known as Skeletal Fixation – where a titanium rod is implanted into the shaft of a bone in his shoulder, protruding enough to attach his prosthetic arm.
‘It will not only make my arm more efficient but the comfort factor is going to be enormous,’ he said.
‘A prosthetic can be heavy and cumbersome but this operation is designed to make the limb as much a part of me as possible.
‘Rather than it sitting in a socket, it will be a more natural movement, mimicking the way a real arm works.
‘However, I will have to take it off every night and charge it up. Just like an iPhone!’
Alex Paterson has a prosthetic arm that he can control with his mind 40 years after losing a limb in a motorbike crash
Never one to take things lying down, Mr Paterson, 57, has battled through with a positive attitude and the view that whatever life throws at him he will get on with it.
‘Of course disabilities affect you but you just have to keep going,’ he said.
‘The human body is an incredible piece of engineering and life is there to be lived. I was never going to just give up.’
The father-of-three and grandfather-of-five, from Hempsted, lost his arm after his motorcycle clipped a kerb and fired him into a tree when he was 17.
The accident left him having to re-adapt to all the things he did before – including driving a car and getting back on a motorbike again.
He has to hold and write on a clipboard for his job as an accident investigator and even things like putting toothpaste on a toothbrush or opening a tin have been challenging.
‘But the hardest thing of all was coping with the excruciating phantom pain that lingers long after the limb has gone,’ he said.
Mr Paterson’s artificial arm replaces the one he lost in a motorcycle accident more than 40 years ago
In the past year, he has been able to come off painkillers, which he says has been a major boost to his physical and mental health.
Now that his remaining muscles have been attached to the nerves in his upper arm, his brain sends signals that move the prosthetic – as it would if it was a real limb.
Mr Paterson has become known as the Bionic Man by those who remember the fictional 1970s TV series, The Six Million Dollar Man, about an astronaut who is rebuilt after his spaceship crashes.
But he says his family have taken to calling him Captain Armless as well, something he says makes him chuckle.
After tracking down the only surgeon in the country performing this type of operation, plastic and reconstructive surgeon Mr Norbet Kang, he was determined to have the life-changing surgery that had only been done on 12 others.
He discovered that the Royal Free Hospital and Dorset Prosthetics were looking for a guinea pig for the pioneering surgery.
Although Mr Paterson says losing a limb hasn’t prevented him from living life to the full, he says he would only ever wear his NHS prosthetic for cosmetic reasons
‘There are never any guarantees it will work and it can be a painful procedure,’ said Mr Paterson, who describes his journey afterwards as ‘tortuous and elating in equal measures’.
He raised £6,000 for rehabilitation costs after the first operation but now needs £46,900 for the Skeletal Fixation.
‘This surgery came around a bit quicker than we thought it would but if I don’t take the opportunity now, my boat will have sailed,’ he said.
To keep the costs down, Mr Paterson is going into hospital in London as a day patient and is planning on being back at work the following day.
Two or three days is recommended for recuperation for such an operation, but as Mr Paterson is self-employed, he can’t be off for long.
His wife Paula is standing by to help out with driving him to work if needed and children, Alan 36, Emma, 31, and Alex, 26, are also there for him.
Despite what happened to him, Mr Paterson still rides motorbikes and so do his children
Although Mr Paterson says losing a limb hasn’t prevented him from living life to the full, he says he would only ever wear his NHS prosthetic for cosmetic reasons.
‘I would put it on if I was going to a wedding. If I needed to wear a suit. It was very basic and very uncomfortable,’ he said.
‘But now my new limb is so much more a part of me, it’s pretty mind-boggling really and that is only going to get better.’
On Monday, Mr Paterson was featured on BBC Points West’s Inside Out West after a camera crew documented his progress during the first year after having his prosthetic limb fitted.
‘No-one really wants to see themselves on television, it is highly embarrassing watching yourself,’ he said.
‘However, I wanted to show what amazing progress has been made in medicine and technology. This pioneering surgery could help thousands.’
Despite what happened to him, Mr Paterson still rides motorbikes and so do his children.
‘You just have to dust yourself off and get on with it.’