Jonathan Kuniholm

Contributed by supporter Disabled American Veterans

Marine Corps veteran Jonathan Kuniholm couldn’t wait to try out the kind of thought-controlled bionic arm he had read so much about during convalescent leave.

Only weeks before, during a foot patrol in Haditha, Iraq, on New Year’s Day 2005, an improvised explosive device nearly severed his right arm below the elbow. He had every right to grieve, but as a Marine and engineer, Kuniholm quickly shifted into problem-solving mode.

He researched prosthetic technology and felt encouraged by the medical advancements so often hailed in media reports. He was convinced he would get the best of the best at what is now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center—and he did.

But Kuniholm soon learned that the best wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Now, nearly 20 years later, he has designed a product that could revolutionize prostheses for arm amputees.

Read the full story here.