He earned his degrees in criminology and psychology through New York University correspondence courses.He graduated from Ysleta High School at the age of 15.Eventually, Armas was fitted with prosthetic hands and learned how to use them.ĭespite the loss of his hands, Armas remained active, participating in sports and even learning how to shoot a gun. He had a German Shepherd dog named Butch who worked as his service dog. Armas was brought to the Hotel Dieu Hospital in El Paso, where both his hands were amputated two inches above the wrist.įour weeks after the amputations, Armas went back to school. Caples was standing nearby, but was not injured in the accident. Armes rubbed two torpedo sticks together, which caused them to detonate and destroy both his hands. When he was 11 years old, Armas and his friend Dick Caples (who was seven years older than Armas) broke into a Texas & Pacific Railroad section house and stole railway torpedoes. Armes.) His parents Pedro (a grocer) and Beatriz were Mexican-Americans living in Ysleta, a low-income area near El Paso, Texas. (He would later anclizes his name to Jay J. Julian Armas was born on August 12, 1932. In 1972, Armes and his team successfully recovered Marlon Brando´s kidnapped son, and in 1975, People Magazine named Armes one of “The 25 Most Intriguing People” of the year. toy company released an action doll based on him – and the doll had detachable prosthetics. He also learned how to drive a car, fly a plane and scuba dive using prosthetics. He quickly learned how to use his prosthetic hands and would go on to become a successful private investigator. At the age of 11, an accident resulted in both his hands being amputated two inches above the wrist.

Jay j armes toy