An Alabama teen designed a lightweight prosthetic to help a Marine keep up his active lifestyle.
An Alabama teen designed a lightweight prosthetic to help a Marine keep up his active lifestyle.
Kendall Bane was stationed in Afghanistan in 2012 when he was shot in the stomach and leg. "Those injuries left me partially paralyzed and I decided to electively amputate my leg," he said.
He already had a prosthetic foot, but it was a little clunky.
"It allows me to be very active, but at the same time, it's a bit heavy," he said.
Enter Ashley Kimbel. The 17-year-old high school senior has always been passionate about biomedical engineering. "I live in a nerd town," Kimbel said. "Huntsville is the hub of engineering in Alabama."
For a school project, she hoped to design a lighter and more versatile prosthetic. Bane's brother volunteers with an auto racing program at Kimbel's school and connected the pair. The rest, as they say, is history.
"The goal was always to make the prosthetic for Kendall so that he could use it for snowboarding and mountain biking," Kimbel told InsideEdition.com.
While initially Kimbel was all about the science, as she got to know Bane, she only became more determined to create the perfect prosthetic for him.
"As we kind of progressed, it became me wanting to help somebody that you know that, you know, served our country and he put his life on the line and ended up becoming injured," Kimbel said.
Last month, Kimbel presented Bane with his brand-new foot, designed with a Siemens software program called Solid Edge and weighing under 2 pounds.
The touching moment was captured on camera.
"It feels strong, it feels sturdy," said Bane. "It does feel a lot lighter."
Now, he's looking forward to spring and finally being able to go mountain biking again with his new and improved prosthetic.
"I'm looking forward to that," he told InsideEdition.com.
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