Video: Turning Hope Into Reality - VA Research to Restore Veterans'...( Frederick Downs Jr. director of V...)

Frederick Downs Jr., director of VA's Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service who lost his left arm during combat in Vietnam, says he was "brought to tears" recently when the DEKA arm allowed him to smoothly bring a water bottle to his mouth and drink.

DARPA has undertaken the monumental task of fulfilling our pact to our Soldiers by embarking on an effort to provide fully integrated limb replacements that enable victims of upper body limb loss to perform arm and hand tasks with the strength and dexterity of the natural limb."

A different kind of prosthesis helped Luke Cassidy, a Veteran who lost his left foot and right toe in Operation Iraqi Freedom, to maintain his active lifestyle and a normal relationship with his young children. "I felt that I wasn't going to be able to function and be able to do 'dad' things with them." With a prosthesis matched to his needs, the Veteran can now coach softball and his mindset has changed, he says, to "Okay, I can do this."

But VA prosthetics research doesn't stop at state-of-the-art limbs. Prosthetics also include wigs, eyeglasses, hearing aids, wheelchairs, GPS devices to help individuals with brain injuries to become mobile, and adaptive equipment for cars and homes -- "everything that's necessary to help Veterans regain their mobility and independence," sums up VA's Downs.

Visit VA's Research and Development site at http://www.research.va.gov.

For information about the Department of Veterans Affairs, please visit http://www.va.gov/.

For updates on the work of VA Research, please visit http://www.research.va.gov/resources/pubs/factsheets.cfm.

For a program overview of the VA Research program, go to