Mike Tindall, a 67-year-old veteran from Tennessee, is the first professional Santa in the world to be fitted with a bionic arm, and it was just in time for the holiday season. He has been a Santa for about 15 years, first using a body-powered prosthesis under his Santa robe, with a white glove over the hand.
Tindall was recently fitted with a red 3D-printed Hero Arm at an Open Bionics clinic in Texas that he’s using to hand out presents, accept letters, and meet families.
“When I first saw the red design, I knew it was perfect—it matches my Santa suit!”
After serving in the Navy for 22 years as an airplane mechanic, a workshop accident in 1994 resulted in Tindall having a left transradial amputation. His first action with his new prosthesis was to hold a cup of hot chocolate and dunk a cookie, before he checked his naughty and nice list, and began to unload presents from his Santa sack.
“When the kids saw the light flashing on my bionic arm, I told them it’s a Santa tracker for Mrs. Claus so she can see where I am. They thought it was so cool.”
“Getting to help Santa with his mission to deliver joy and merriment for children at the holidays has been so much fun,” said Samantha Payne, cofounder of Open Bionics. “We’re so glad the Hero Arm has been able to help Santa with all his two-handed tasks and holiday preparations. Hopefully, we’re on the good list this year.”
For more about Tindall, read his interview with Amplitude magazine, our sister publication, at “Bionic Santa Shares His Secrets.”
Photographs courtesy of Open Bionics.
