Double amputee Len Snowdon hasn't let a couple of missing limbs stop him getting on with life, winning plenty of friends and admirers along the way.
But yesterday, if only for a short while, the extraordinary contents of two overseas packages caused him to stop and take stock.
The boxes contained a prosthetic arm and a matching leg, each so real that people passing him in the street would no longer have cause to look, Mr Snowdon said.
Every detail - the freckles, arm hairs, even the little-bit-dirty sole of the foot - was there in $250,000 worth of prosthetic wonder.
"I didn't believe what I was seeing, the prostheses seemed so real," an emotional Mr Snowdon said.
"I had to take some deep breaths so I didn't pass out."
The prostheses - together with another electronic arm that uses Bluetooth technology to allow the wearer a greater range of movements than other prosthetic arms - were the combined work of Southern Prosthetics and Orthotics, in Unanderra, and leading United Kingdom silicon specialists Dorset Orthopaedic.
Their arrival came more than nine months after work began on the limbs, which were cast and built in Unanderra then shipped to the UK for treatment by the Dorset group's fastidious artisans.
Due to the extent of Mr Snowdon's amputations - his leg was cut from the hip down and his arm from the shoulder - he had to travel to the UK to have every inch of the limbs colour-matched.
"They took photos, measured the length of body hair, counted the freckles, measured the creases, took a cast of the (left) arm and foot so they could reverse it and create the perfect replica," Mr Snowdon said.
Mr Snowdon lost his limbs in an horrific 1992 train accident while working at BlueScope Steel, but remarkably describes the time since as "a wonderful journey".
He has continued working for BlueScope - which paid for the prostheses - as a safety officer.
He also offers his time to a support group for amputees and their families and is a life member of the Disabled Surfers Association.
"I have loved every moment and I have a wonderful support network," he said. "Life's too short to be miserable, my wife is incredible, she's a person that takes care of me and reassures me that everything will be okay."
Since the accident, Mr Snowdon has fathered two children, Emma, 13, and Amy, 5.
"There'll be no more fights - they'll both have a hand to hold onto now," he said.
Southern Prosthetics and Orthotics director Peter Spooner-Hart said Mr Snowdon's prostheses were the best he'd seen and it couldn't have happened to a better man.
"It's a real pleasure working with Len, he's an inspiration."
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