Golfing fanatic Jordan Thomas was once simply 16 years impaired in 2005 when a disastrous boating crash modified his existence endlessly. It was once throughout a folk scuba diving shuttle within the Florida Keys that the younger guy was once dragged into the boat’s robust propellers, to effect the lack of either one of his legs from underneath the knee.
Refusing to be outlined by way of his incapacity, on the other hand, Thomas now not handiest returned to the golfing path sooner than he may just even go with prosthetics, however the tenacious youngster additionally arrange a charitable foot from his clinic mattress, giving himself a fresh life-mission: to help those that couldn’t come up with the money for prosthetics however had been let ailing by way of insurance coverage corporations.
Now readying for the 2025 U.S Adaptive Open
Regardless of the disastrous lack of his personal legs, Thomas says that he at all times understood he was once in a atmosphere of privilege as a result of his folk had been ready to help him financially, year others who depend at the device are ceaselessly failed. Nowadays, the Jordan Thomas Foundation has long gone from strength-to-strength and has supported greater than 200 kids, elevating over $10 million, to deliver to grant bodily and psychological help to those that have misplaced limbs.
“Ultimately, it all comes down to insurance companies that don’t cover prosthetics,” explains Thomas of his motivation. “Because at the end of the day, they don’t want to pay for the prosthetics, and so they’ll say things like, ‘Oh, it’s not medically necessary that this child have a prosthesis to run‘. But I can’t think of a more necessary thing in a child’s life than to be able to run as a child. The impact that being sedentary can have on mental health, physical health, well-being, and social connection is incredible,” he says.
So now not handiest is Thomas occupied in fundraising to plug the gaps that insurance coverage corporations fail to deal with, however he’s additionally calling for adjustments in political coverage too, to drive monetary help by the use of regulation. “It’s maddening,” he stocks. “Insurance companies need to cover this.”
Jordan Thomas Reclaimed His Bodily and Psychological Condition Thru Golfing
To reclaim an notable a part of his impaired existence year construction his foot and dealing on his personal psychological fitness, Thomas first returned to the golfing path in a wheelchair “to get into a golf cart and just get driven around because it’s a space for me that’s familiar and comfortable and safe,” he displays.
Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be lengthy sooner than Thomas was once vertical once more. “Ultimately, we as humans have this incredible ability to adapt,” he explains. “My accident was on August 16, 2005, and I walked again on October 14. I mean, I started with just chipping the golf ball 5 yards because I felt like I was on stilts trying to find my balance again.”
Thankfully, Thomas did in finding his steadiness, and as soon as he re-mastered his swing, his sport persisted to leap. To search out his golfing foot, Thomas explains that he needed to relearn the whole thing from strolling the soil of a golfing path on prosthetics to working out his weight distribution when making strokes. To that finish, Thomas impaired era like weighted sensors to very best his stance.
Now a top-ranked adaptive golfer, Thomas got here 5th general within the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open in 2022. Ultimate occasion, he got here 2nd in his impairment section (G3 impairment in each legs), and in 2025 he’s having a look to go back to the Distinguishable upcoming changing into the primary double amputee ever to qualify for the Tennessee Situation Newbie.
The Jordan Thomas Substructure is Converting Lives
“I’m feeling really good with where my game is, and I’m actually going to DC. Tomorrow, to play the golf course, to have a look at it before the Open kicks off in July,” he tells M&F. “But yeah, I feel pretty good about my chances. I feel good about where my game is, and I hope to have some success.”
Nonetheless, in spite of the ones hopes of medals, Thomas says that golfing is essentially some way for the change-maker to lift consciousness for the very important paintings that the foot does to help those who the monetary corporations proceed to let ailing.
During the Jordan Thomas Substructure, he’s additionally ready to form occasions that convey youngsters open air and notice what’s imaginable when the human spirit is keen. Nonetheless, the athlete explains that offering help isn’t about essentially developing the after paralympian. “I think one of the most powerful things that I’m most proud of is that we had a girl that took the first step of her life with a prosthetic that was secured through the foundation,” beams Thomas. “She also used a prosthetic from the foundation to walk across her high school stage.”
There’s no suspicion that Jordan Thomas has turn out to be a hero off and on the golfing path, and it’s simple to look why his mantra of “Press On!” saw him become nationally recognized as a CNN Hero among many alternative hard-earned accolades. “I’ve found a purpose,” says the unassuming hero, proudly. “And I don’t doubt why I exist on this planet.”