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 In the days after a scuba diving accident drastically changed the path of Jordan Thomas’ life, the Chattanooga native and avid golfer decided to provide inspiration and answers to others rather than seek them.
At 16 years old Thomas’ legs were sheared off below the knee by a boat’s propellers during a family fishing trip in the Florida Keys. During his two-week stay in a Miami hospital, Thomas took note of the plight of other amputees whose families, if they had families, weren’t as financially fortunate as his.
“I just remember seeing so many kids who didn’t have parents, didn’t have health care,” Thomas told CNN. “I just knew that the future was grim for them.”
A few years later 20-year-old Jordan Thomas, now a junior at the College of Charleston, is the founder of a charitable organization that provides prosthetics for children with limb loss and partners with them through their growth years until the age of 18. To date the Foundation and its volunteers have raised more than $400,000 and sponsored three beneficiaries. One of the foundation’s fundraising vehicles is the annual Jordan Thomas Golf Classic, which was held on Oct. 5 at Chattanooga Golf and Country Club in Thomas’ hometown.
Through the prosthetic devices Thomas is outfitted with he has been able to return to playing the game of golf. Prior to the accident he had been captain of his high school’s golf team and a promising junior player.
While Thomas has returned to the links and is a full-time college student, you won’t find his name on the College of Charleston’s golf team home page. Instead, you’ll find him on CNN.com/heroes as one of the network’s top 10 heroes of 2009, listed alongside people much older who’ve undertaken equally phenomenal tasks such as providing sustainable water for Third World countries and developing gang alternatives through education.
As one of the CNN Heroes finalists, Thomas will travel to Hollywood this Thanksgiving for a celebration event hosted by CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper. If selected as the 2009 Hero of the Year, Thomas will receive $100,000. His foundation has already received a donation of $25,000 for making it this far.
It’s not the first award Thomas has received.
This August he was honored with the National Courage Center’s 2009 Award in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an added bonus, Thomas was given special ‘behind the ropes’ access to the PGA Championship that was held a week prior to the award presentation at nearby Hazeltine National Golf Club.
To vote for Jordan, you can go to CNN.com/Heroes. Voting closes Nov. 19.
To learn more about his cause or to contribute, visit the Jordan Thomas Foundation.
According to a recent article that appeared on CNN.com, Thomas has no plans to slow down and strives to become a voice for the amputee community as well as help more children lead normal, happy and productive lives.
“When you’re thrown into the situation, you just kind of adapt and you make the best of it,” Thomas told CNN. “There’s nothing that I really cannot do.”
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