Matthew James is a pretty normal British teenager apart from the fact that he was born without a left hand,
his arm had only developed to his wrist. Unfortunately almost everything we know how to do involves using both hands and we couldn’t imagine how to live with only the aid of one. Matthew was growing tired of having such a hindrance to his quality of life when it wasn’t necessary. To resolve this issue he wrote to the team principle of Mercedes, Ross Brawn. In his letter he included his adoration for the sport of F1 and in particular the Mercedes team along with a proposal for having Mercedes buy him a new i-Limb Pulse, made by Touch Bionics. In exchange for the limb Matthew proposed to allow use of the arm as advertising space for Mercedes but instead received the arm free of charge, which retails at around £35,000. This came about after Ross Brawn teamed up with Touch Bionics to share information on condition that Matthew received his i-Limb Pulse. Ross Brawn has said
Matthew's letter to the team was very touching. Meeting Matthew, and hearing first-hand how the new device would improve his quality of life, was a pleasure and I am delighted that our initial contact has now led to such a positive conclusion.