A man who once feared he may never properly use his hand again has turned one of the toughest periods of his life into an extraordinary world record — all thanks to LEGO Star Wars.

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Canadian collector Fredrick Oliver has officially built the world’s largest collection of LEGO Star Wars sets after using the hobby as part of his rehabilitation following a devastating surgery complication.

What began as a recovery exercise slowly became an obsession that would eventually fill his basement, take over storage space, and land him a place in the Guinness World Records.

Back in 1999, Oliver underwent bilateral carpal tunnel surgery after years of strenuous manual labour took a serious toll on his body, per Guinness World Records.

The operation was unsuccessful.

For an entire year afterwards, he was unable to properly move his hand at all, losing the dexterity and fine motor control many people take for granted.

But things changed when a chiropractor helped treat his muscle fibres and suggested a new approach to rehabilitation.

Rather than traditional repetitive exercises, Oliver was advised to work with something small and detailed in order to rebuild his fine motor skills.

That recommendation would completely alter the course of his life.

A lifelong Star Wars fan, Oliver decided to pick up a LEGO Star Wars set as a way to begin the process. The timing proved almost perfect, with LEGO first launching the Star Wars range in the very same year as his surgery.

One set quickly became several.

Several became hundreds.

And before long, Oliver had unknowingly started building what would eventually become the largest LEGO Star Wars collection on the planet.

According to Guinness World Records, Oliver officially owns 993 LEGO Star Wars sets, although his total may already be even higher.

He reportedly has another application currently being processed, which would increase the total to 1,051 sets if verified.

The sheer scale of the collection means not all of it can even be displayed at once.

Oliver admitted his basement is only large enough to showcase around “30 to 40%” of what he owns, with the remaining sets kept in storage while he continues adding to the collection.

And he has no plans to slow down.

The collector constantly searches Facebook Marketplace looking for rare finds, while also relying on word-of-mouth tips from fellow enthusiasts in the LEGO community.

There is still one item he particularly wants to add to the collection, too — the ultra-rare solid gold Boba Fett set.

“If I could find one for the right price, I would probably be interested in that,” he said.

While the world record is impressive on its own, the most remarkable part of Oliver’s story is what the hobby helped him regain.

After years of difficulty following the failed surgery, he claims his hand is now “95% better”.

What started as therapy became something much bigger than rehabilitation.

It became a passion, a creative outlet, and ultimately a life-changing routine.

“I think I’m drawn to LEGO for two reasons: the creativity [because] you can build pretty much anything that you can come up with,” said Oliver. “And the imagination. I think a lot of people lose that as they get older, and this certainly helps keep your imagination young.”

For many collectors, LEGO is simply a hobby.

For Fredrick Oliver, it became a way to rebuild his life piece by piece.

Featured image credit: Guinness World Records / YouTube (screenshot)