Man from the South
In the story “Man from the South”, the soldier bet an old man that his lighter would work 10 times in exchange for a Cadillac. He did not know, however, that he would have lost his finger whether he won the bet or lost. Thankfully, the wife stepped in and stopped her husband before he could chop off the soldier’s little finger. Although the soldier said that he wouldn’t miss his little finger because he did not feel like it was necessary, it would have cost him more functionality than he realized.
If the soldier lost the bet, he would lose 50% of his grip strength. Although the little finger may not seem like it has much of a purpose, it is extremely important for grip strength and power. The little finger works with the other fingers to carry out everyday activities and without it, the soldier would have trouble carrying anything weighted. This would not only affect his duties as an American soldier, but his personal activities, such as brushing his teeth or hair, would also be impacted.
Because the soldier’s grip strength would be reduced greatly, he would have to adjust the normal activities completed by soldier’s every day. One activity that would be greatly affected would be his ability grip a gun and shoot. Because hand mobility increases from a radial to ulnar aspect, you have the greatest range of flexion in the little finger. This allows for a firmer grip on the gun handle that I believe the soldier would need in order to properly and effectively operate the gun.
If operating a heavy rifle, the soldier could use a shoulder strap to help take some weight off of his hand and put it onto his shoulder. Because the strength in shoulder is not compromised, having most of the weight there would allow an easier grip on the gun. This would increase the soldier’s occupational performance because he would be able to complete the meaningful activity of operating a gun as an American soldier.
At the end of the story, we find out the Man cut off most of his wife’s fingers throughout the years, leaving only her thumb and one other finger. This would profoundly affect her ability to perform most activities using the hand and fingers. A major activity that would be impacted is her ability to put her key in the car to start it. When gripping a key, you need to be able to put enough pressure to hold it and you need to increase pressure when placing it in the car and turning. One piece of equipment that might help the wife use her key to turn the car on is a finger grip key turning aide. This device provides an increased grip and turning leverage for a key. This will allow her to have more control when turning on her car.
Hey Tarason! I like how you explained the hand's mobility and why that contributes to the little finger having the greatest flexion range when gripping a gun. I also liked how you described the modification of having him use a shoulder strap with the gun to take the weight off of his hands. That would definitely help him to continue to participate in his role as a solider. The modification you chose for the wife was a perfect example of how assistive technology can help client's achieve independence in their daily lives. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Tarason, I thought you made some excellent points about the soldier's loss of his pinky. It was important of you to state that he would have lost a lot of grip strength in his hand, and that his daily activities would be significantly impacted. I think both of the adaptive equipments you stated would be great ways to help the soldier and wife adapt with their situations and make their lives easier.
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