Writing to companies with requests or complaints is a chancy business. More often than not, you’re likely to get a form letter with an auto-signature. If you’re lucky, and have made an eloquent case, maybe you’ll get your money back, or a free sample. So when Matthew James, a 14-year-old British lad, wrote to the boss of F1 team Mercedes GP Petronas, his expectations weren’t exactly high–even though his request (which the UK paper the Telegraph calls “cheeky”) was astronomical: £35,000 (or almost $60,000). Specifically, Matthew James, who was born without a left hand, wanted Mercedes to pay for a top-of-the-line artificial limb. He was even willing to rent out ad space, racecar style.
As he says in a video on the Telegraph’s site, “I was just thinking I’ll send a letter off, they might be nice, they might, like, maybe give me a tee shirt.” Instead, Matthew’s note struck a chord with the company. “Matthew’s letter to the team was very touching,” Ross Brawn, the letter’s addressee, said. Mercedes teamed up with a company called Touch Bionics, and collaborated with Matthew to make a customized i-LIMB Pulse, which the paper characterizes as “the most advanced prosthetic limb in the world.”
The old hand was something of a glorified claw, Matthew is the first to admit. The new, deluxe, chrome affair is almost as good as the real deal. “With this one I can do everything,” he said. With his old hand he would pick up objects and have to press them against his chest to manipulate them. With the new one, he grasps them and lifts them simply and naturally.
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