Effects shop fulfills amputee's mermaid dream

Matt Hickey | Feb 25, 2009

Nadya Vessey's prosthetic tail is mostly constructed from wetsuit fabric and plastic molds, and covered in a digitally printed sock. (Credit: stuff.co.nz)

Good: double amputee gets prosthetic legs so she can walk. Better: double amputee gets realistic-looking mermaid tail so she can swim. Awesome: It's developed and built by Weta, the special-effects company that did all the work for the Lord of the Rings movies, as well as King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia series.

Nadya Vessey's legs were amputated below the knee when she was a child due to illness. At one point, reports Stuff magazine, a child asked her what happened to her legs and she told him she was a mermaid. The idea stuck with her, so she wrote to Weta Workshop in Wellington, New Zealand, two years ago asking for a mermaid tail. To her surprise, they said they'd do it.

Now she has a fully functional mermaid tail with an attached suit, making her look practically just like a real mermaid (if, you know, mermaids were real).

She can swim well and says the prosthesis feels quite comfortable. We're not sure if anything like this could go into mass production for amputees, but we wouldn't be surprised if 10 years from now there are mermaids swimming about in your local pool.

Via Crave CNET

Filed under: Future Tech
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