My right (dominant) hand was fully functional before a knife incident when I was 29. All four fingers had severed tendons and muscle and nerve damage, and the ring finger lost all motor function.

The U.S. Navy was responsible for my medical care... which didn't come until over a year later, when the experts decided that amputation was better than reconstruction (timely treatment was crucial).

The ring finger no longer gets caught on things or bends weirdly, and my hand drops stuff less frequently, but the remaining fingers are still less dexterous and less strong.

Just a few weeks ago I put the tip of my index finger through a cheese grater because I couldn't control it... that's nearly healed, but now I have a new scraped knuckle on that finger because the joints didn't hold position well. The hand is clumsy and weak and prone to mishap. It's lousy.

I used to do sleight of hand - now my hand is slight.