Robert Riiber thought his life was over when he learned that he would lose his legs to an above-the-knee amputation in 2006.

"I didn't know what my outlook would be," said Riiber, who suffered from a vascular disease and had been a skier when he was young.

"I thought I would swagger around in a walker and that was OK with me."

When he went to Powell Orthotics & Prosthetics in Henrico County to be fitted for his artificial legs, his outlook changed.

"The first thing I noticed was how enthusiastic they were about the prospects I had," he said. "I had no idea what my limits would be. They told me the sky is the limit. Now, I'm running twice a week. I can do the 100-yard dash in 51.75 seconds. That's amazing to me."

Mitch Powell, Joe Sullivan and Michael Monteiro bought Powell Orthotics & Prosthetics in 2006 when Powell's father, Thomas G. Powell Jr., retired as president. Sullivan and Monteiro specialize in prostheses while Powell focuses on orthotics or braces.

"It was an opportunity to form a partnership and keep the name going," Sullivan said.

The company, formerly known as Thomas G. Powell Inc., had been in Powell's family since 1932 when Mitch Powell's grandfather, Thomas G. Powell Sr., purchased it from the original founder, Marvin F. Pollard. Pollard had started the company in 1922 in the basement of his Church Hill home.

"I started working at the company during the summer when I was 13," said Mitch Powell, now 50. "I began working here full-time when I graduated from high school."

Sullivan became one of the company's patients as an infant after having his left foot amputated because of a cancerous tumor.

"Mitch's father, Tommy, made my first prosthesis," Sullivan said, noting that he never let the fact that he was an amputee interfere with his love of athletics. Sullivan participated in the Paralympic Games in standing volleyball in 1996 and 2000.

Sullivan began working at Powell as a technician when he attended Virginia Commonwealth University.

"I fell in love with the field," he said.

Monteiro joined the company in 1991 after working in the field for several years.

Since the partners took over the company, they have seen an annual sales growth rate of about 20 percent.

"We get referrals from rehabilitation doctors and surgeons among others," Monteiro said. "Many of our referrals come from word of mouth."

About 60 percent of the company's patients are geriatric diabetics. The remaining 40 percent include cancer patients, victims of trauma and children with congenital birth defects who use braces.

"We can make a brace for pretty much every joint in the body," Powell said. "We work with a lot of sports-related injuries, especially knees. We build everything here."

The back half of the company's 4,000-square-foot office space at 2034 Dabney Road is dedicated to the building of orthotics and prosthetics. The front half houses the offices including a room with walking bars where patients can test their prosthetics and orthotics.

Dana Gormley, senior physical therapist for CJW Medical Center, has several patients who go to Powell Orthotics & Prosthetics for their orthotics and prosthetics.

"I think they are absolutely wonderful," Gormley said. "I work with Mitch a lot and I've had nothing but positive outcomes."

Polio survivor Carol Ranelli goes to Powell for her braces and shoe lifts.

"Everyone I have dealt with there over the years has been customer-service oriented," she said. "Mitch makes my braces and he has wonderful expertise. Everyone there is up-to-date on new techniques and materials that can make your quality of life better."

New technologies at Powell include a digital imaging system that allows the partners to modify an artificial limb on the computer and send that image to a lathe that carves a model.

"We are on the cutting edge of computer technology," Monteiro said. But basic orthotics and prosthetics remain key to its business.

Melanie McElhinney Goodpasture knows firsthand. She went to Powell 28 years ago after receiving a hemipelvectomy, or a high-level pelvic amputation, at the age of 15 when she had cancer.

"I have to be fitted with a prosthesis that includes hip, knee and ankle joints," she said. "That type of prosthesis is very difficult to fit. It takes a special skill set to get it right."