Kennesaw State student draws on personal experience in graduate program
KENNESAW, Ga. | Jun 9, 2025
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 亚博官方网站, Kiel is pursuing a career as a prosthetist, hoping to use his lived experience to reach others.
Kiel鈥檚 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.
鈥淭hey met with a lot of doctors and talked with them,鈥� Kiel said. 鈥淎t 11 months, they decided to amputate my foot, and I鈥檝e had a prosthesis since that moment.鈥�
Kiel鈥檚