John Harris, hooked on possibilities, spoke about how he had overcome his challenges as a double amputee to school children who attended a demonstration at UKZN of their entry to the Cybathlon with their robotic hand. Picture: Shelley Kjonstad Independent Newspapers
JOHN Harris’ attempt at a kind gesture on November 11, 1996 didn’t end as he planned.
He tried to free a kite from what looked like a telephone line for a group of children playing on a field in Phoenix.
It turned out to be a high-powered municipal electrical cable and as soon as he raised a 5m aluminium rod to free the kite, 33 000V of charge arched onto the staff and for about one-hundredth of a second flowed through his body.
The then 25-year-old Harris worked as a project manager for Stocks & Stocks construction and was days away from marrying his fiancée, but the accident left him a double hand amputee.
While it was tough road back reconstructing his life, living with prosthetic hands has grown on him and he’s long been able to function with nearly the same dexterity as before his accident.
As a part-time motivational speaker, Harris was part of the build-up to the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s participation in last Saturday’s “Cybathlon”, a global contest promoting ingenuity and advancement of assistive technologies.
The UKZN developed a low-costing prosthetic arm ‒ Touch Hand ‒ and showcased it at the event considered to be the prostheses Olympics.
UKZN’s team was led by Professor Riaan Stopforth.
Harris addressed school children and the media about his accident and adapting to routine functions using prosthetic limbs with hooks at the ends.
His talk gave the audience perspective on how prosthetic arm technology had evolved from the days when Harris got his artificial limbs in 1999.
Harris assisted Stopforth and others when they first began developing a robotic arm in about 2013.
“I was their guinea pig.”
He said UKZN’s prototype with an opening closing palm drew much media attention, whereas the latest version had wrist movement and multiple fingers.
“Riaan (Stopforth) and his team have done a phenomenal job. They are getting closer to their finished product that will have a huge impact on human life.”
Harris remembered his life without his prosthetics and the difference it made once he had them.
He could do things like dressing, brush his teeth, use the bathroom and manipulate his cell phone.
But he’s not prepared to upgrade to the latest versions even though it would speed up how he did things.
“A change would be like having a second amputation and relearn my whole life again. What I have works for me.”
He has used the same basic prosthesis system for 25 years, which has a harness over his back and a cable system to help him manoeuvre his hands.
“I have an idea of what it feels like to wear a bra everyday. The hooks can be locked into different positions for different uses like writing or when I need to express my dissatisfaction when someone cuts me off on the road.”
Harris drives a car with manual transmission, a specially fitted contraption on the steering wheel to slot in his hook for control and has even done road trips to Johannesburg.
On the day of his accident, Harris was driving to a site in Phoenix, the first he managed for Stocks & Stocks when he noticed the children and their kite.
“I guess my heart was bigger than my brain.”
He said the electricity ran down his arms, and “blew out my armpits. It miraculously bypassed my entire abdomen and re-entered at the hip, completely missing all my vital organs, ran down my legs and eventually into the ground”.
He was knocked unconscious, but when he came to, was able to attract the attention of a man who called for an ambulance.
Harris spent two months in hospital with his two sisters (Caron and Elaine), mother and then fiancée watching over him daily.
From being a sports star at Glenwood Boys’ High, receiving a bursary from Stocks & Stocks to study and a new home to move into after his wedding, he was devastated.
“I thought my life was over. How was I going to be a provider, a protector and all things that society places on men?”
He contemplated suicide.
His sisters offered to provide for him, but Harris wouldn’t accept that.
“How can I look in the mirror and have self respect and live off someone else? For me that would not work.”
Through intensive therapy and determination Harris got his life going again.
He returned to work in 1998 and, with an assistant, he managed the building of the nursing residence at Chief Albert Luthuli Hospital.
He was medically boarded in 2000 and, married for a second time, relocated to the farm he bought in Underberg.
He started his own construction company, and in 2007 moved to Rwanda to manage a $14-million hydro power project that generates 9.6 megawatts of electricity.
“I thought to myself ‘John’ what on earth are you doing here? You’re disabled and you have never handled a civil engineering job of this magnitude. But I reassured myself every day that I was the right man for the job.”
He returned to Durban in 2010, joined the sales team at Caron’s transport business for seven years before doing a Toastmasters course in public speaking.
He took up “inspirational” speaking as a full-time profession and enjoyed much success for nine months until Covid-19 struck.
He rejoined Caron’s team, on the operational side of the business, where he currently works.
“Provided I plan in advance, I get the day-off whenever I have a motivational speaking opportunity.”
Harris said he led a normal life, with a full-time job, and a 21-year-oId son.
“I pride myself in what I do and do it to the best of my ability.”
He believes everything happens for a reason.
“I’m still not sure why the accident happened. But a big part of my journey is to inspire people and let them know there’s nothing they can’t overcome.
“Many people ask me if I had the choice would I choose to have hands again. That is not an easy question to answer, because yes, I would love to have hands to touch and feel. However also no because this has moulded the person I am today.”
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