He’s Led by Example – on Legs He Built Himself

He’s taken literal steps, too.

Douglas, until recently, walked on the prosthetic legs he constructed two summers ago as a seasonal employee at Prosthetic and Orthotic Associates.

“It’s like building your own car and successfully driving it,” Douglas said. “It’s probably a crazy analogy, but imagine if you were a surgeon, and you surgically attach your own leg back onto your body, and then you’re walking on that leg successfully. It’s a crazy feeling.”

An amputee building their own limbs is rare, UVA kinesiology professor Abby Fines said. Then again, so is Douglas.

Fines views Douglas as more of a colleague now than a student. He’s helped promote a number of kinesiology department-sponsored events, such as last week’s adaptive sports field day, “Roll With Jim,” and routinely accepts Fines’ guest-speaking opportunities.

Douglas, seen here during last week’s “Roll With Jim” event, is an All-America wheelchair tennis player. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

“When he talks about his prosthetic legs to his classmates, they’re open to a new field that a lot of our kinesiology undergrads don’t know about,” Fines said, noting that many students enter with an interest in more common fields such as physical therapy or sports medicine. “And it’s a realm that’s so important and essential, as it mirrors kinesiology, engineering, medicine, all of the above.”

Douglas credits UVA’s kinesiology program as his foundation for a career in prosthetics, a profession he said he’s wanted to pursue since he was a child. His resume already includes work at two different prosthetic and orthotic centers, where, along with constructing the devices, he’s helped patients learn to walk with them.

“Everything that I needed to be able to function, he was teaching me,” Bagley said. “And then when I wasn’t doing anything, he was eating lunch with me or just goofing off and having fun.”

One of Douglas’ greatest qualities, Fines said, is his ability to connect naturally with others. He’s open with his backstory and doesn’t mind leaning into it to launch a timely one-liner.

Early into their friendship, Bagley asked why Douglas’ prosthetic feet weren’t uniform in color. Without hesitation, Douglas, the product of biracial parents, quipped back: “I say this one’s from my mom and this one’s from my dad.”

After graduation, Douglas is staying on Grounds to pursue a master’s degree in biotechnology from the McIntire School of Commerce. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

“It’s how he holds himself that I admire so much,” Bagley said. “He just carries so much confidence. You look at him and think, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’”

Following Douglas’ lead, Bagley is studying kinesiology at Alabama, and he’s also befriended a fellow amputee – South Carolina teenager Carson Galloway, who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident.

“I actually went in to see him when he was in the hospital because of Brian,” Bagley said. “Because he impacted me so much, I wanted to do the same for somebody else and not have them fall down on themselves.”

Douglas’ uplifting legacy is trending toward a new chapter. While he’s staying at UVA to pursue a master’s degree in biotechnology from the McIntire School of Commerce, he’s aiming further when it comes to prosthetics. He wants to enter the legislative side of the industry to improve processes for amputees and prosthetists.

“I feel like that’s where I’m needed,” Douglas said. “I want everyone who has a prosthetic or orthotic device to be able to use it to the same level and standard that I’ve been able to use mine.”