Born Without Thumbs, But Not Held Back

17 September 2025

Aalbers claims he’s still anxious about meeting new people as he’s unsure how they’ll react to his condition. Jam Press/@qiaodi.aalbers

Qiao Aalbers, a 26-year-old content creator originally from China and raised in the Netherlands, has captured hearts online by showing what extraordinary adaptability looks like. Born without thumbs, Aalbers performs daily tasks many take for granted and posts videos on TikTok that highlight how he has turned what some might see as a limitation into a source of strength and creativity. He has found popularity not by hiding his difference but by sharing how fully he has embraced it.

Aalbers’s journey has been both personal and public. Adopted at four months old, he initially dealt with insecurity over lacking thumbs things like dating, self-esteem, or simply meeting strangers came with uncertainty. Over time, travel, self-expression, and community shifted his mindset. Through videos of him opening bottles, twirling vases, slipping a hand into a Pringles can, or even attempting a manicure, he shows that thumbs are optional. He handles these things without prosthetics or adaptations, and he says he would rather stay thumbless than try to adjust to having thumbs.

One viral clip that struck a chord was him opening a bottle with only his index and middle fingers, then drinking from it while holding it in his four-fingered hand. Another showed him slipping his entire hand into a Pringles can, a feat many with full thumbs struggle to manage. His approach combines humor, ingenuity, and refusal to shrink away. His lighthearted quips about hitchhiking, manicures, or thumbs being so pretty that “God decided to keep two for himself” highlight how seriously he does not take the limits, even as he acknowledges the real challenges.

Tasks that most people would do automatically like tying ribbons or handling buttons still pose difficulties for Aalbers. He shares those moments too, not to elicit pity but to show contrast how life without thumbs means some things are slower or trickier. He has also shared how meeting new people can feel like stepping into unknown territory because he does not know how others will respond to what he lacks physically. These are not moments of bitterness but reflections of reality.

Over time his social media following has grown, in part because his content resonates on more than one level. He is admired for his dexterity, yes, but more so for his attitude. For living with what might be considered a disability without letting it define all of who he is. The joy, the jokes, the pride in capabilities these tend to leave viewers inspired or at least impressed. Comments on his videos include disbelief, admiration, and often gratitude from people who say they see themselves in his story.

One of the most striking things about Aalbers’s statements is that he says he would not want thumbs even if they were offered. He compares growing new fingers to relearning how to live. He has spent 26 years without thumbs; adapting to having them, he says, would mean losing parts of the identity and muscle memory he has built. Part of the power of his story is that it’s not about overcoming so much as living. It’s about claiming life even when it’s untraditional.

In a broader sense, Qiao Aalbers’s story is part of the ongoing shift in how society thinks about disability. Rather than seeing differences only as deficits, many now celebrate them as variations of human experience. There is a growing space for those who live with physical differences to show strength, artistry, humor, and competence not only under challenging circumstances but with excellence. Aalbers is one of many doing that work with authenticity. His story also reminds viewers that what looks like a ‘handicap’ in one context can look like creativity, adaptability, or even novelty in another.

For Aalbers the road is not always smooth but it is his own. Whether he is opening something ordinary or joking with his audience about thumbs, he is making clear that difference doesn’t always need fixing it often needs recognition or adjustment. He turns tasks into acts of possibility. He turns limitation into something people feel admiration for. And he has done so with a smile, with humor, with openness.

In doing this, he not only challenges expectations but helps shift them. His message is subtle but powerful: how you live matters more than what you think you lack. For his followers and the many people who watch his videos, Qiao Aalbers is living proof that sometimes your greatest strength is learning how much you can do without what others call essential.