One frosty-frozen morning after raining the day before, the sliding and rear doors were completely stuck. Probably squeezed the weakened handle on the hatch too hard in my haste and the only way to open it was pull the interior panel off. Doing that, I recognized the need for a reinforced lever. Here's my solve:
Photo 1: The handle bent back into it's relative 90 degree angle (guessing on the right angle).
Photo 2&3: I used an ordinary 16d duplex nail (fits perfectly in the channel of the lever) flattened the point (locks it into the lower lip of the actual handle), cut the head off and bent to the same rough shape. This takes some noodling, but it's just metal...
Photo 4: A little bit of space seems like it made the handle operate 100% of it's range...
Photos 5&6: Wrapped it with wire, vinyl taped it and should be good for a while.
Epoxy maybe better than wire, whatever blows your hair back. Reinstall and enjoy!