"Cool Hand" Dad

I found this touching story in Parents Magazine June 2009.

When Robert Haag's son, Michael, was born five years ago without a fully developed left arm, Haag was stunned to learn that prosthetic hands for infants were essentially useless because the "forefinger" and "thumb" were connected to each other and therefore immobile. That's why Haag, of Atlanta, came up with a simple fix. He cut just-for-show appendages apart so that his son could at east hold a block or a pacifier like other children. And thus bean Haag's quest to make prosthetics useful to a child. He turned a Spider-Man fishing rod into a "fishing arm" by altering the pole to screw into Micheal's prosthetic socket. His goal is to improve Micheal's and other children's life and shares his designs on openprosthetics.org under "Pediatric Trainer."