KARACHI: Muaaz Zahid was at a rooftop celebration in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad in July this year when his right hand accidentally touched a high-tension wire, sending 11,000 watts of electricity surging through his arm and driving the chemical count in his body to critical levels.
By the time the 26-year-old engineer and guitarist was moved to a hospital in his hometown of Lahore 24 hours later, doctors said the only way to save his life was to amputate his arm below the elbow.
Muaaz Zahid, a software engineer and guitarist, speaks to Arab News at NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, on October 10, 2020. (AN Photo)
At the time, few believed Zahid would ever play the guitar again.
In this undated photo, Muaaz Zahid performs at a concert in Lahore before an accident on July 4, 2020, in Faisalabad, Pakistan. (Photo Courtesy: Muaaz Zahid)
But barely three months after the accident that nearly cost him his life, Zahid, who teaches at the prestigious Lahore Institute of Management Sciences, played his first chord last week, after a startup called BIONIKS fitted him with a bionic arm and a customized stroker for guitar strings.
“Immediately after the incident...I was hopeful,” Zahid told Arab News in Karachi last week. “I just thought... I’m alive. I’m healthy. My legs are moving, my brain is working, my eyes are okay, everything is fine.”
In this undated photo, Muaaz Zahid is seen in Lahore before an accident on July 4, 2020, in Faisalabad, Pakistan. (Photo Courtesy: Muaaz Zahid)
“People wondered... Is he going to be able to play guitar again?" he said. "This was a question mark for others, but it was clear to me that I would play again one day.”
As he gently strummed his guitar with a specially designed stroker, he smiled and said: “And I am doing [it] right now.”
A friend of Zahid’s, who worked in jewelry design, first helped make a band for his amputated arm, using which he was able to play his first few chords since the accident.
“It sounded [right] and I have no words to express how I felt in that moment. It was amazing... just that first stroke,” he said.
Ultimately, BIONIKS, which provides orthotics and prosthetics services in Karachi, found him a more permanent solution.
“I shared my story with them... that I’m playing the guitar with my wrist. They said we can design a socket-type thing for you,” Zahid said.
The result was a custom designed stroker for guitar strings and a new prosthetic arm.
Photo of a stroker specially designed by Karachi startup Bioniks for Muaaz Zahid. October 10, 2020 (AN Photo)
"His [Zahid’s] courage and motivation is remarkable,” CEO of BIONIKS, Ovais Hussain Qureshi, said. “Recovering within three months of amputation and adoption of BIONIKS prosthesis is marvelous.”
“Seeing Muaaz ... moving his fingers right just from the very next second after popping his arm into the arm.. looking at his smile motivates us more,” Qureshi added.
Now, Zahid said, he was just waiting for a gig he could play at.
“But even if there is no gig or concert,” he said, as the weeping of his guitar filled the university room. “I will play... and I will play.”
