Kelly Kosky: New Life from a Lost Leg

In 2010, Kelly Kosky was performing missionary work in rural areas along Africa’s southern tip. 

The 60-year-old ‘Transkei Transformer’—a US-born minister who had committed his life to bringing Christianity to impoverished Africa—woke up one morning to a particularly beautiful Monday sunrise. 

The warm, life-giving winds of Africa were blowing softly, and Kelly’s day had started just like any other. 

He had tasks ahead of him. Important tasks.

A neighboring village needed help with a severely sick child. 

Kelly had an important sermon to prepare for. 

News had come in about a foreign dignitary coming to visit with Kelly and his ministry.

…there was much to do, and to begin his day’s activities, Kelly Kosky decided to hop on his bicycle and pedal down a dirt road en route to one of his churches. As he rode by, friends waved from their porches, saying “Molo!”—the Xhosa word for ‘good morning’. 

In that moment, Kelly’s life was grand. 

Unbeknownst to him, however, this trailblazing Christian missionary would be forever changed in the moments that followed. 

Bricks and Brutality

While pedaling his bike down this rural African dirt road, Kelly heard the sound of a vehicle approaching him from the rear. Judging from the deep, diesel engine sound, this was quite a large vehicle, and it was travelling at a considerable rate of speed faster than Kelly was. 

The truck attempted to pass Kelly on his bicycle as the road became narrow.

The first trailer made contact with Kelly, sending him to the ground. The second trailer then ran over Kelly Kosky’s right leg, causing massive tissue and bone damage. 

The vehicle that had just struck Kelly was a two-trailer, industrial cargo truck carrying over eight tons of brick. Even if the driver had wanted to slow down to grant Kelly right-of-way, he wouldn’t have been able to.

Now, not only was Kelly Kosky bleeding out on the ground next to his mangled bicycle, but the driver that hit him had no idea of the tragedy that was now unfolding in his truck’s dusty wake. 

In an instant, Kelly looked down to behold the macabre scene before him. Blood was pooling quickly. Kelly knew he needed to take action. 

After removing his belt from his waist, Kelly fashioned a makeshift tourniquet and applied it to the traumatized remnant of his right leg. As the bleeding began to slow, Kelly fell back against the warm dirt and looked up to the sky.

It was then that Kelly Kosky began to pray. 

Forever Changed, Yet Undaunted

While still deep in prayer, Kelly heard the welcome sound of tires rolling toward him. He looked over to see that an old pickup truck with two young men had just pulled over to help him. 

Praise god, indeed! 

The young men hoisted Kelly and his eviscerated leg into their truck and sped away to the nearest trading station, where arrangements were made to get Kelly to a proper medical care facility. 

Traveling to see a doctor took over an hour, and in that time, an infection had begun to set in deep inside Kelly’s wounds. 

When he was finally able to get adequate medical care, Kelly Kosky was told he would be losing his leg so the infection wouldn’t spread through his body and kill him. It was that day when Kelly’s new life as an amputee would begin. 

In the weeks and months that followed, Kelly found himself enduring the most challenging chapter of his life. He had a ministry to run, people to manage, animals to look after…a community to lead. 

How was he going to do all of this with only one leg? 

Once he had acclimated to life with the use of a prosthetic leg and crutches, Kelly Kosky learned an incredibly valuable lesson: you don’t need two legs to comfort people. 

Within Kelly’s heart, determination took hold. He made the fateful choice not to let this accident keep him from pursuing his life’s goal of changing lives by spreading the Christian gospel to as many Africans as he could. As his resolve strengthened, Kelly found himself even more driven to build his ministry and even more grateful to be blessed with the opportunity to radically change people’s lives for the better. 

Kelly Kosky, Today

Looking back on all of it, Kelly Kosky—now 70—says he has learned a lot about what limitations really are.

He’s also learned a lot about how best to respond to abrupt tragedy—in his words, “You either get better, or you get bitter. You either get up, or you give up.”

And, when asked about his feelings about the driver of the truck that hit him, Kelly smiles, nods his head, and says:

“I have forgiven him. He may never know the hardship I’ve endured, but I know that he is forgiven, and maybe forgiveness is what this is all really about.”

To learn more about Kelly Kosky Ministries and Kelly Kosky’s missionary work in Africa, visit www.KellyKoskyMinistries.com.