For a few weeks, Dennis Aabo Sorenesen was able to feel in his left hand, even though all that was left of it was a stump and a prosthetic after a fireworks show gone wrong.

Sorensen volunteered as a test subject for a group of international scientists attempting to bring touch back to amputees by implanting electrodes in and around their nerves, the Washington Post reported. Specific electric shocks derived by a computer algorithm were delivered into Sorensen's arm, awakening a pathway from his hand and fingers that had been dormant for years.

After blindfolding the 36 year-old (so he couldn't "cheat" by interpreting sensory data through sight), researchers at a Rome hospital had him grab, lift, and feel several objects. Though he couldn't feel in the manner as an actual hand, Sorensen said he could recognize qualities he hadn't been able to in years.

"I could feel things that I hadn't been able to feel in over nine years," said Sørensen. "When I held an object, I could feel if it was soft or hard, round or square."

That's important for prosthetics, which are usually clumsy and prone to dropping things because they don't translate pressure and intuitively grasp the correct way to grab items.

According to Silvestro Micera, one of the researchers, the project was "the first time in neuroprosthetics that sensory feedback has been restored and used by an amputee in real-time to control an artificial limb."

But it wasn't the first ever to attempt to reconnect sensory pathways. Rather than implant electrodes next to the nerves, other projects have implanted them directly into the nerves, with similar results. Already cautious of the effects of simply placing electrodes near the nerves (and potentially causing nerve damage), the researchers of this study are even more apprehensive of direct implantation. That's why both their experiment and previous works have only been able to temporarily restore touch. A permanent solution is connected to further research.

Sorensen was still grateful for his couple weeks of touch, and considers himself a beacon for other amputees.

"I was more than happy to volunteer for the clinical trial, not only for myself, but to help other amputees as well," said Sorensen.