This guy has kept his sense of humour firmly in place with a gory home-made prosthesis after he tragically became an amputee.
Ruben Carol, from California, lost his left leg in 2005 when he was ‘struck by a hit and run driver and knocked under a lorry’ where he was where ‘dragged 30 feet before being run over’.
Known as qbanruben357 on Imgur, he posted a photo of his incredibly striking and scarily realistic artistry which was made at Magnum which creates its own prosthetics.
Ruben created the prosthesis to cover his leg amputation, but decided to sculpt it into a gory leg that looks as if it has been freshly chopped off.
After spending five weeks in a coma and six months in hospital, Ruben’s (then) wife began cheating on him and left him saying ‘You will never find anyone to love you the way you are now’.
He endured a tough journey of coming to terms with his amputated leg, and a bout of depression before he found his new wife who has helped him ‘become a better version of the man I used to be’.
Now based in Northamptonshire with his new wife, Ruben is an actor and speaker who works for Magnum, a company which uses amputees to train first responders through simulation training during counter terrorist exercises.
Magnum is a community of many amputees who have come to terms with their loss and often look to humour for solace.
Ruben told UNILAD:
Magnum is filled with amputees who have come to terms with their loss. However, many of them volunteer for the British Limb-Loss Ex Servicemen or the Limbless Association (which I am a member of and often visit amputees in the hospital to reassure them that life will be okay. Yes thing will change but you don’t have to give-up.
He added:
Humour is important in everyone’s life.
Look, when something like this happens to you, you have two choices, you can cry about it and feel sorry for yourself for the rest of your life (which is not going to bring your limb back) or you can take it as a learning experience for how valuable life is. Humour is a big part of that.
When amputees get in a group, believe me, we can take the piss out of each other. We say things that would make other cringe. Because we can. If someone who wasn’t an amputee said some of these things, they could be offensive.
Commenters on Imgur were inspired by Ruben…
In fact Ruben acquired quite a few admirers for his ability to see the bright side…
Other amputees were quick to praise Ruben’s outlook:
Some even had their own ideas for Ruben to put into practice!
Ruben said he ‘was always a joker and the life of the party’ and has not lost his sense of humour, before telling me the classic joke he tells:
Sometime’s people ask how I lost my leg and I look at them funny and say ‘what do you mean? I lost both my legs! I’m just glad I found a shoe that fits my knob.
Apparently some of Magnum’s prosthetics have blood pumps and squirt blood to make them more realistic!
