Ispectrum Magazine Ispectrum Magazine #06 | Página 26

Ian Waterman speaks very eloquently about his condition, and in the many interviews and documentaries you can find online, it is hard to realise that he is suffering from any problem at all, so controlled is his movement. Having mastered the ability to walk again we may forget how difficult it remains for him to do everyday tasks as he has no receptors to help signal to him what his hands are doing. ‘Whenever I do something with my hands I am not just looking and thinking about my hands, I am also listening to sound’ he says. ‘I can’t get anything from my pocket because I can’t feel it terribly well…..often if someone passes me a cup I would grab it awkwardly because I don’t have the feedback of something coming from the fingertips saying you’ve actually picked up the cup incorrectly.’ Waterman seems to have retained a sense of humour about aspects ‘Whenever I do something with my hands I am not just looking and thinking about my hands, I am also listening to sound’ 25