Humans to get bionic limbs pioneered by TV Supervet
a day where we would use the technology that we have already evolved and developed in animals and that could not only help animals but help humans as well.
“Finally, for the very first time in 250 years – when human and animal medicine diverged – we have now in 2018 finally managed to reconverge them on one project at least. That, I hope, will change everything for ever.”
Mr Fitzpatrick’s passion for prosthetics stemmed from seeing his uncle Paul struggle with an uncomfortable wooden leg.
Mr Fitzpatrick was 10 when he first saw the wooden leg during a fishing trip on the River Shannon.
He said: “It was a very hot day and my uncle rolled up his trousers and took off his wooden leg and I saw his stump. It was like a side of ham that had been beaten with a hammer.
“I just screamed out loud – and knocked his wooden leg off the side of the boat!
“I spent three-and-a-half hours floating downstream chasing a leg, until there was an American tourist holding a leg aloft in a bed of reeds, shouting ‘Anyone’s leg?’ – God bless America! I thought at that point, well if Steve Austin, the [TV] Bionic Man, can have a bionic leg, why does Uncle Paul not have a bionic leg?”
Some 25 years later, Mr Fitzpatrick visited expert Professor Gordon Blunn and the pair have been working to develop implants for animals for more than 10 years.
Despite his success, Mr Fitzpatrick admitted “a large percentage of the veterinary profession” disagrees with some of his work. But he says he only suggests using experimental technology when it is in the animal’s best interests and if all other options have been explained to their owners.
“I have tried all of my life to give animals a fair deal.”