KENNESAW, Ga. | Jun 9, 2025

For as long as he can remember, Adam Kiel has worn a prosthetic leg.

Diagnosed with fibular hemimelia, a condition in which a child is born missing part of or all of a bone in a lower leg, he received his first prosthesis at 11 months old. Now, through the Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics program at Kennesaw State University, Kiel is pursuing a career as a prosthetist, hoping to use his lived experience to reach others.

Kiel’s parents learned about his fibular hemimelia condition before he was born. They had two options: Either attempt to reconstruct the lower limb through a series of surgeries or amputate the limb fully.

“They met with a lot of doctors and talked with them,” Kiel said. “At 11 months, they decided to amputate my foot, and I’ve had a prosthesis since that moment.”

Kiel’s prosthesis allowed him to participate in sports as a child, first playing baseball before finding his niche with lacrosse. He even admits his prosthesis came with certain advantages in sports, especially when tending the goal.

“It didn’t hurt when I got hit in the leg,” Kiel said with a laugh. “It was pretty funny; the ball would bounce so far.”

Kiel always had an interest in healthcare, and by high school, he knew he wanted to pursue a career in prosthetics.

“I did a lot of reflecting on experiences growing up and some of the prosthetists who made my leg and the impact they’ve made on my life,” Kiel said. “Some of those experiences made me want to be able to give back. Being able to do that was just something that I really valued.”

After graduating from North Paulding High School in 2019, he enrolled at Georgia Southern University and pursued a degree in exercise science. While completing his undergraduate degree, Kiel spent two summers working at a prosthetics clinic in Savannah, where he continued developing his lab skills while discovering his passion for connecting with patients through sharing his own story.

“A lot of times after an amputation, you’re going to the doctor a lot and you start seeing the same people,” Kiel said. “But then you go into a clinic and someone pulls up their pant leg and says, ‘Hey, I have a prosthesis, too.’ Being able to connect with them that way is something I want to be able to do in the future.”

Kiel’s lived experience made him an ideal candidate for KSU’s Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics program, an interdisciplinary graduate degree in the Department of Exercise and Sport Management in the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services. The two-year program features clinical, technical, and research components, allowing Kiel to receive hands-on experience and to see how the field of prosthetics is evolving.

Professor of exercise science Mark Geil serves as a research mentor to Kiel and has witnessed the technological advancements that have occurred in the decades since Kiel received his first prosthesis.

“The clinical care is similar,” Geil said. “What has changed since that time is the technology and the options we have available for prosthetic care.”

Geil highlights advancements in material science, such as prostheses created out of carbon fiber, that have significantly enhanced the user experience. An example is the microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee, which include sensors in the limb and foot that communicate to the prosthesis when to change the stiffness based on terrain, such as walking up and down stairs.

“One of the things you get the opportunity to see sometimes is a person walking down stairs, step over step, for the first time in their lives, because the knee understands, ‘Oh, we’re going down stairs now,’” Geil said. “It gradually lowers the stiffness so that you can flex your knee when you’re descending the step. That sounds like a very simple thing, but when you’re not hopping down the stairs, you are participating in society in a new way, and you have a new area of mobility that is a sense of freedom for you.”

As advancements occur in powered prosthetic components, the ultimate goal is connecting prosthetic control to existing neural pathways, which would allow users the sort of control needed to actuate individual fingers from a mere thought.

However, to achieve that goal, Geil notes that significant progress needs to be made in material science, 3D printing, and brain-device interface – challenges awaiting the next generation of researchers.

Kiel hopes to join the ranks of prosthetists after graduating from KSU this year, using his own story to impact others.

“I don’t know where I’ll be,” he said. “But wherever I am, it’s helping people with limb loss and making prosthetics and orthotics with them and just trying to keep people active and doing what they were doing before.”

This article also appears in the current issue of Summit Magazine.

– Story by David Roberts

Photos by Darnell Wilburn Jr.

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.