Afghanistan War Vet's Prosthetic Hands Stolen Out of His Car

A Tennessee doctor who lost his right hand serving in Afghanistan says a bag containing three of his prosthetic hands was stolen out of his car over the weekend.

Dr. Daniel McConnell, a first year medical resident, told the Johnson City Press he left three prosthetic devices, or hooks, in a bag in his car after having them repaired. At some point during the weekend, he noticed the bag -- with a "Wounded Warrior" label on it -- was gone, along with his GPS.

“I was less than pleased,” he told the City Press. “I have a very low tolerance for thievery. You can’t justify that. I can see somebody justifying stealing tomatoes because they were hungry and had no money, but when you’re stealing stuff out of people’s cars to pawn and get cash it’s ridiculous."

McConnell, who has one remaining prosthetic, said he had several devices because of the demands of his job as a doctor.

“Most people don’t need backups, but if I’m in a position where I’m seeing patients and it breaks, I’ve got to have other ones ready to go,” he said. “I don’t usually walk around with a bunch of prosthetic hooks on me, but I just happened to get them all back at once."

Each of the devices, priced at $3,700 apiece, has a serial number on it, but short of them being found McConnell said he hopes the Department of Veterans Affairs will help get him some replacements.

"I would be thrilled if the bag just randomly showed up at the VA or something, but I don't really expect that to happen," he said.