Innovative artificial limb creator for animals makes prosthetic hand for friend

Cansu Şimşek – MARDİN

A man living in the southeastern province of Mardin’s Derik district made headlines last year for creating artificial legs for animals using his own means. Now he has made a prosthetic hand for his friend.

The 23-year-old Hasan Kızıl, dubbed the “life repairer” by Turkish media, “has made a replacement hand for his friend Hattap Dağ, 22, using parts from a 3D printer.

“We have been friends for a long time now. I wanted to help Hattap a lot,” Kızıl told daily Hürriyet.

The idea of making a prosthetic hand for Dağ came to Kızıl when he asked his friend what his “biggest dream” was. “I asked Hattap [Dağ] what he would do, if he had fingers. He said his biggest dream was to play guitar,” Kızıl said, referring to the inspiration behind developing the artificial hand.

Dağ lost his fingers when he was a baby after placing them in boiling water, which made them become gangrenous.

Meanwhile, the Turkish pop musician Fuat Güner, a member of the famous band MFÖ, gifted Dağ a guitar, signed with his name.

Kızıl made headlines last summer following the circulation of images of innovative artificial limbs he had made for disabled or paralyzed animals using various gadgets. Kızıl’s creative output included making a replacement leg for a one-legged eagle and prosthetic artificial legs out of cabinet wheels for a turtle with no rear legs.