Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 994 is my conversation with Jordan Thomas, who lost both of his legs at 16 in a 2005 boat-propeller accident while scuba diving off the coast. From his hospital bed, still a teenager, he decided to become a force for good and started the Jordan Thomas Foundation. Today JTF provides prosthetics for children, committing to each child from as young as 18 months all the way to 18, and has helped more than 200 kids. This is a story about turning the worst day of a life into a purpose.
Listen now: press play in the player above to watch the full conversation, or stream Episode 994 on your favorite podcast app.
Jordan Thomas is a double amputee and the founder of the Jordan Thomas Foundation, a nonprofit that provides prosthetics for children. He lost both of his legs at age 16 in a 2005 boating accident and, from his hospital bed, decided to dedicate his life to helping kids who cannot advocate for themselves. He is also an avid golfer and a nationwide advocate for prosthetic-coverage legislation.
In August 2005, when Jordan was 16, he was scuba diving about seven miles off the coast in rough, choppy seas. As he drifted close to the boat, his mother, fearing a swell would crash the boat down on top of him, gunned the engine to move it clear, and the propeller pulled him in and severed both legs. Both of his parents are physicians and applied tourniquets with towels on the ride in, and he barely survived.
The Jordan Thomas Foundation (JTF) is the nonprofit Jordan started as a 16-year-old in the hospital. It provides prosthetics for children and makes a long-term commitment to each child, from as young as 18 months through age 18, replacing devices as the kids outgrow them every six to twelve months. JTF bridges the gap left by insurance and has expanded into policy and advocacy work to require coverage.
Jordan says the foundation has helped more than 200 children, with around 150 currently committed to receiving prosthetics until adulthood. Because the commitment spans from roughly 18 months to 18 years, the impact is deep rather than just broad. Some kids took the very first step of their lives on a JTF prosthesis and later walked across their high school graduation stage on one.
Jordan explains that activity-specific prosthetics, like running blades, swimming legs, or golf legs, are almost never covered by insurance because they are not deemed medically necessary. He argues there is nothing more necessary than giving a child the chance to run and play, and JTF both provides these devices and pushes for common-sense legislation to require insurers to pay for them.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 994 with Jordan Thomas is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
I knew Jordan's story before we sat down, but I wanted listeners to hear where his foundation came from and why. He took something that was anything but positive and turned it into a force for good that has changed hundreds of kids' lives. This is one of those conversations that puts everything else in perspective.
Press play in the player above to hear the whole conversation.
Jordan walks through August 2005 with remarkable calm: the choppy seas, drifting toward the boat, his mother's split-second decision, the propeller, and looking down to see his fins gone and blood in the water. With both parents being physicians, tourniquets made from towels kept him alive on the way in. He is honest about how close it came to going the other way. Worth hearing in his own words.
What gets me is the timing. Jordan was not visited by some grand revelation; he was a 16-year-old kid who simply decided this was not right for kids who could not advocate for themselves and that he would do something about it. That decision, made in a hospital bed, became the Jordan Thomas Foundation. Listen to that section of the episode.
JTF does not hand a kid one leg and move on. Because children outgrow prosthetics like shoes, the foundation commits to each child from as young as 18 months all the way to 18. Jordan describes kids who took their first steps and later crossed a graduation stage on JTF legs. Press play in the player above.
Jordan is direct about the system. Running blades, swimming legs, and sport prosthetics are not deemed medically necessary, so insurance does not pay. JTF fills that gap and has ramped up advocacy and legislation to change it. He also talks about the relief this brings parents who had canceled vacations or put houses on the market to afford a child's leg. Scroll up and watch the player above.
Listen to the full conversation: press play in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
What stays with me about Jordan is the choice. The accident was not a choice, but everything after it was, and he chose purpose at an age when most of us would have chosen to feel sorry for ourselves.
Twenty years later, hundreds of kids are running, swimming, and graduating because a teenager decided his worst day would become someone else's best chance. Share this one.
Press play in the player above to hear how it all fits together.
Jordan Thomas · Jordan Thomas Foundation (JTF) · Paralympics
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Jordan Thomas is a double amputee and the founder of the Jordan Thomas Foundation, a nonprofit that provides prosthetics for children from as young as 18 months through age 18. He lost both legs in a 2005 boating accident at age 16 and started the foundation from his hospital bed. JTF has helped more than 200 children and has become a leading advocate for legislation requiring insurance coverage of prosthetics. Jordan is also an avid golfer.
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