An amputee talks about his fivefinger KSOs

I was recently contacted by Adam, an individual who had to have his left leg amputated after suffering injuries in a car wreck. Adam's preferred method of getting around now is on crutches, making his remaining leg the central point of support and balance. It's under these constraints that he's turned to using fivefingers KSOs to aid in feeling the ground. Here's Adam:

Justin,

I recently stumbled across your website and decided to write you a comment. I'm 20 years old and lost my left leg last year due to a car wreck during my freshman year of college.

I don't always wear a prosthesis because they're painful for me still. As a result, I'm stuck using crutches. My primary footwear of choice while crutching is the KSO.

The FF allows me to have an impeccable connection to the ground, which is essential for a mono-pod like myself, making sure that every step is safe and secure. My balance and agility are improved when wearing FFs as well.

I always get strange looks from people, and I can't help but wonder if it's because I wear FFs or because I only have one leg. Perhaps it's both? :)

Anyways, thanks for making such an awesome tribute site, and if you know of any amputees who still have their left foot, I have a brand new left KSO size 43 that I don't think I'll be using anytime soon!

- Adam

I'm happy to manage a place where people can share how they're improving their lives by doing something so simple as improving their connection to the ground — Adam's case is unusual, but a great application of Vibram fivefingers.

Thanks for sharing your story, Adam, and I'll let you know if anyone else reaches out in need of your left KSO!

About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.
Justin Owings+ has written 845 articles and 379 comments.