Ask anyone at his local tavern and they’ll tell you Richard is hard to miss.

A retired jockey turned lighting salesman, Richard now spends his time running karaoke nights at his local, volunteering with the community group there, pouring pints and, most importantly, keeping up with his young grandson.

"What matters to me is getting on with the things I love, without having to think twice about it," Richard says.

Richard’s life changed at a young age after an incident led to his left arm being amputated just below the elbow. ™

"I was a jockey, so that's all I ever wanted to be in my life, and to be told that you couldn't do it anymore, that was huge."

What followed was a complete re-evaluation, helped along by some straight-talking advice. "I had a great tutor in my dad. He said, come on, just shake your shoulders, get onto it. You can do anything you want to do."

Fifty years on, Richard has never looked back, or stopped. "Fifty years, never been unemployed. If you couldn't get a job, you made one. Mowed lawns, cleaned windows, hung wallpaper, a one-arm paper hanger. Done everything."

It's a determination he's happy to pass on. "You don't need two hands to do anything. You've just got to find another way of doing it."

Richard has worn various types of hooks, but everything changed once he tried the TASKA HandGen1.

"It took me a while to get used to," Richard says.

"It's one of those times where you look down and you finally see a hand on the end of your arm that you haven't seen for 40 or so years."

“I thought my hand looked like a tennis racket. It just felt huge on the end of my arm.” It did not take long to click, though. “I learned how to tie my shoelaces in three months. The dexterity of it is amazing, and it makes you feel normal again.”

For Richard, now a TASKA CX™ user, it comes down to one simple word: “normality”.

After years of adapting, the goal was never something flashy. It was the freedom to do everyday things.

"I do put it through its limits. I don't hold back."

"The robustness and waterproofing mean I can get it dirty and wash my hands without any need to worry."

That sense of normality is what he values most of all. “I can walk down the road, and people think I have a glove on. They don’t notice it until I use it, or they hear it.”

“I used to put my hook on and get on a bus, and everybody stared at you. Put your TASKA hand on, get on the bus, and nobody bats an eyelid. So, it’s normality.”

Confidence has been a big part of the journey. Richard has never been one to shy away from a crowd, and these days the hand is as much a talking point as it is a tool.

"I'm the teacher and in control of how people interact with me."

"People always want to know about it, and I'm more than happy to have that chat and educate them," he says. He's especially proud of where his hand comes from. "The one thing I always use is that it's New Zealand made, and it's made here in Christchurch. And everybody goes, wow, really?"

Working behind the bar, the hand has become his best icebreaker. "I'll pour a pint and reach up with my TASKA hand to operate the pump, and they'll say, wow, you can pour a pint better than a person with two hands. And I went, well, I've drunk enough of them, so I know how to pour them."

Richard has featured in several TASKA marketing videos and continues to support our design and engineering teams by sharing honest feedback on how the hand performs in everyday tasks, including in dry, wet and soapy conditions.

It is exactly the kind of real-world input that helps TASKA keep improving, and exactly the kind of person Richard is: engaged, generous with his time and always keen to help.

For Richard, it was never about the technology for its own sake. It was about getting back to normal, and getting back to the things, and the people, that matter most.