Man of The Week – Jordan Thomas

I think it’s pretty safe to say, if someone lost both of their legs in a tragic accident, they would plunge into depression and despair, correct?

Well, not Jordan Thomas.

On an annual family boating trip to the Florida Keys in 2005, Jordan, then 16, decided to go scuba diving. When he jumped into the water and the boat's wake dragged him hard into the sharp, spinning propellers, he immediately knew  what was going to happen. "I looked down -- my black fins were gone, and all I saw was red just everywhere, but I had this unbelievable calmness over my body."

Thomas was rushed to a hospital, where he spent the next two weeks undergoing several surgeries on what was left of his legs and along the way, discovered what would become his life's mission. While he was recovering, Thomas visited other amputees.

"I just remember seeing so many kids who didn't have parents, didn't have health care," he said. "I just knew that the future was pretty grim for them."

The Jordan Thomas Foundation has raised more than $400,000 through bracelets, charity golf tournaments and cookouts. Some of that is paying for ongoing prosthetics for three children until they reach age 18.

"If we provide them with prosthetics," said Thomas, "then that creates a whole gambit of opportunity for them to achieve whatever they want ... and I think they deserve that."

Jordan Thomas says he would like to become a voice for the amputee community and help many more children live "normal and happy, productive lives."

"When you're thrown into a situation, you just kind of adapt and you make the best of it," Thomas said. "There's nothing that I really cannot do."