Loosing a hand? http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949 BleachingLiliesBlack A character in my book supposedly lost her hand. A hand can be lost in a motorcycle accident right??? Also what are the ways a person can replace their lost hand (fictional ways are fine!!)? lol. main part of my story and I don't even know!!!! Get excited for NANO guys!!! BleachingLIliesBlack &lt;3 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:57:54 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119761 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119761 alysdragon A hand can be lost in a motoring accident. My mum lost hers in a car crash. Thing is, though, unless it's a clean severance, I really doubt they can reattach it - as far as I'm aware, most of the time the hand/ limb isn't 'lost' in the crash, just so badly damaged that the hospital makes the decision to amputate. But as to fictional methods, there's always magic. Magic fixes most things. Nuada Silverhand lost his in battle, had a silver hand for a bit (hence the name) but was given a magic fix and it grew back. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:01:39 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1120515 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1120515 Itzika Not trying to be mean here--but "loosing" means "releasing." You want "losing." It's a common mistake and it looks right, but it's the wrong word. As for replacing the hand... Prosthetics, mostly. If you're going with futuristic medical technology, you can make the prosthetic as good as you want. Or if you want to go <em>really</em> futuristic, they could regrow the hand somehow, either from the stump of the arm or in a jar or on another animal (they grew an ear on a mouse once) and reattach it once it's fully developed. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:03:35 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1121016 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1121016 Notkieran Someone had a hand transplant a couple of years back. A lot of controversy over that one, if I remember right, unless I'm remembering the face transplant incident. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:41:31 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122116 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122116 BleachingLiliesBlack Haha, sorry I'm a grammer fiasco sometimes! I do mean that her hand was badly damaged and was amputated. Ha, it's true you learn something new every day! And alysdragon, sorry about your mom!!!! And magic I think that will work..... :3 Thanks guys! Also, Is a war with Antarictica even possible? I mean would it make any sense? BLB &lt;3 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:44:09 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1123973 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1123973 alysdragon Thank you, but she was 17 when it happened, so I think she's over it now. As to Antartica, well, it belongs to no-body politically and has only a small population of researchers etc, so... no. I'd find it a bit strange, anyway. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:19:26 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124086 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124086 BleachingLiliesBlack Oh, I'm glad! ^-^ I do see what you mean it does seem odd. Thanks! (back to the drawing board!) BLB &lt;3 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:28:51 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124190 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124190 Vinxman When is your story set? If it's in the future, maybe Antarctica is more densely settled and no longer international territory. Or maybe the war is against penguins...hee hee. A long time ago, the mother of a co-worker severed her hand in an ATV accident. She had it reattached, and although at first her hand was numb, it was still functional and she eventually regained feeling. To have it permanently lost, you character would either have to not get the hand and herself to the hospital quickly enough, be in a place where such surgery was impossible, or have the hand mangled, so reattachment was impossible. Those could all happen with a motorcycle accident. A small injury could, under bad conditions, fester and need to be amputated. If the hand has gangrene, it couldn't be reattached. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:39:24 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124454 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124454 Vinxman As for replacing hands, prosthetics can be quite realistic, depending on the technology of your world. A hand transplant it possible, but the chance of rejection would be a continuous worry. The person would need to take anti-rejection medicine for the rest of his/her life. Again, if the technology of your world is sufficiently advanced, a cloned hand would be a possibility. I know partial limbs have been grown back in mice, but I don't think anything as intricate as a human hand has been regrown. I remember reading reports on this back in 1985, when I was working in regeneration research. My career went in a very different direction, so I'm not up to date on such medical advances, but it's the sort of thing that would make it to the news. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:46:08 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124474 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124474 BleachingLiliesBlack Thanks Vinx! Well the world is like our world today but the army (haha yes the army.) has all this advanced tech that they keep secret from the world. So I was thinking about adding some magic into my book but does that sound odd? Like the character who lost her hand was in this magical dream world and when she woke up she had her hand again. I would love for my book to be a sci-fi/adventure/fantasy but I think zombies are so cliche (even if I LOVE them!) I do think your ideas are AMAZING and thank you for the advise but I'll have to think on it... I think Antarctica will be more throughly populated (not by penguins XD) and hmm. I don't think I've gotten that far yet... Writing slowly but surely BLB &lt;3 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:42:07 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126128 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126128 Bill Moonroe Agreed. I had imagined the scene in "Evil Dead 2" where the main character's hand becomes possessed and tries to kill him, even once the guy chops it off. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:56:17 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126210 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126210 BleachingLiliesBlack [quote=Bill Moonroe] Agreed. I had imagined the scene in "Evil Dead 2" where the main character's hand becomes possessed and tries to kill him, even once the guy chops it off. [/quote] REALLy?? that sounds amazingly awsome and scary as heck!! ^-^ BLB &lt;3 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:50:56 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126270 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126270 Bill Moonroe It's a pretty campy horror movie, and that's one of the funnier scenes. It's worth tracking down for a little silly horror. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:43:51 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1128198 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1128198 BleachingLiliesBlack Yes it is! My brain is churning with ideas!!! juggling school work and my book makes my head ache!! Haha, not really, it's just hard!! ^-^ BLB &lt;3 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:30:36 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1128691 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1128691 Saeth I ride a scooter and keep being told horror stories about what happens if you fall and don't wear gloves... To be fair, one of the first thing that hits the tarmac is the hand, so I know from experience that it's really painful on the join at least. Without gloves, you run the risk of severe grazing (and remember, grazes over a large surface area are just as bad as deep cuts in terms of blood loss, and the risk of infection is much higher). Could be your character simply got a severe infection, especially if s/he didn't seek medical help in time, or didn't have access to decent care. Once gangrene sets in, the hand could've been amputated. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:15:29 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1131184 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1131184 BleachingLiliesBlack Thanks Saeth! and a scooter like a Razor scooter or one that resembles a motorcycle? infection....we'lll see XD BLB &lt;3 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:18:27 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1131607 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/49949?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1131607