Daniel Bastian has been literally giving Daniel Gropper a hand and more for the past 22 years.
And six weeks ago, Bastian, co-owner of Progressive Orthotics & Prosthetics in Albertson fitted Gropper – a quadruple amputee – the most advanced prosthetic hand developed to date – the Michelangelo.
In doing so, Gropper became only the third person to be fitted with the device in the country.
Wearing it on his right arm, Gropper has been able to hold objects such as a cup or a pen for the first time in more than two decades.
“I used the hooks for so long, I was kind of skeptical,” Gropper said.
But Groopper said he had confidence in Bastian, who has devised prosthetics over the past several years that enable Gropper to play golf, lift weights and box.
He said he had used hooks for years rather than the prosthetic hands he originally been fitted with because he found them to be more functional.
But the Michelangelo prosthetic hand changed his mind..
Gropper particularly likes the different wrist positions the Michaelangelo allows, along with seven positions for the thumb.
“There’s no thumb that articulates like that,” Bastian said.
The hand is programmed so that electricity generated by the hand can be balanced with the electromagnetic energy the arm must generate to work the limb.
Gropper lost his limbs after nearly 80 percent of his body was burned in a dormitory fire at Hofstra University in 1989. He wasn’t expected to live and his limbs became badly infected and had to be amputated.
Gropper said Bastian, who lost his right leg to cancer, has “inspired” and challenged him over the past two decades.
Last November, Bastian fitted Gropper with Genium Bionic Prosthetic System lower limbs developed by the German manufacturer Ottobock, which makes the Michaelangelo and produces prosthetics for the U.S. military.
Bastian, who tests new products for Ottobock, also wears a Genium leg.
The prosthetic leg, specifically designed for amputations above the knee, enables greater freedom of movement than other leg prosthetics, according to Bastian. It contains an accelerometer to gauge changes in walking pace and direction of movement and a gyroscope to determine where the user’s leg is in space. Gropper said he’s much more confident about his balance on his new legs.
“It’s improving activities of daily living,” Gropper said. “Having it be more stable is definitely a plus.”
The legs also have a setting to enable the user to climb stairs. Gropper said he’s taking that process one step at a time.
“It’s a start. We’re working toward going up a full flight,” he said.
The new hands and legs are Bastian’s latest efforts to aid Gropper, who has gradually expanded his range of activities.
When Gropper told Bastian he wanted to play golf 12 years ago, Bastian devised a pole-like prosthesis to enable Gropper to support his weight, and a second one enabling him to use specially made golf clubs.
“This stuff isn’t in books. You make it up as you go along,” Bastian said.
Gropper said what he may lack in distance in his golf shots, he makes up for in accuracy.
“I hit it straight almost all the time,” he said, smiling.
Gropper will be playing next month in the 13th annual golf tournament Bastian is sponsoring for disabled linksters in Bethpage.
For the past year, Gropper has been bench-pressing weights and boxing, thanks to prosthetic arms and clamps Bastian devised for him. He’s currently bench pressing 295 pounds, aiming to top 300 pounds soon.
He also plays basketball with his nephews. And several years ago, he went sky diving.
“Adapt and overcome,” Gropper said to himself as he was demonstrating the Genium legs in Bastian’s Albertson offices last week.
A resident of Oceanside, Gropper lives in a custom-built house. After 13 surgeries and a year in rehab, he went back to Hofstra and graduated with high honors in finance.
He’s just undergone training to be a volunteer at Nassau University Medical Center, talking to burn survivors.
“After 43 years of being selfish, I’m trying to give something back,” he said.
