It was an emotional day for 26-year-old Balangir youth Khirod Mishra, who got a new lease of life almost after seven months.

In July last year, goons had chopped off Khirod's hands and and he was fitted with prosthetic limbs at prosthetic limbs SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Wednesday.

Tears rolled down Khirod's cheeks as the doctors fitted his artificial hands. "I can now try to lead a normal life. I was worried about my future, but the doctors and authorities at SCB gave confidence and helped me to recover from the trauma," he said.

The myoelectric-controlled prosthetic hands were imported from USA and chief minister Naveen Patnaik handed it over to Khirod during his visit to Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Institute on Wednesday.

Myoelectric prosthetics serves both purposes of an artificial limb, without sacrificing appearance for functionality

"It is for the first time that artificial computerised hands have been successfully fitted in Odisha," said Dr Arun Chaudhary, head of plastic surgery department, SCB Medical College and Hospital. Doctors said that Khirod could now write and eat with the artificial limbs. He also underwent a two-month training in how to use the artificial hands as the entire system works directly with signals from the brain.

"We had given up hope, but I am happy that my son will now be able to do his own work with the new hands," said Khirod's father Ramakant.

Text by Vikash Sharma, pictures by Badrika Nath Das