The following is a special presentation of WTCI in Chattanooga, north Georgia, and the Tennessee Valley.

Meet Jordan Thomas, a Chattanooga native whose hope of helping others, has reached the eyes and ears of the world.

It's unfortunate that took something like my accident to give me the perspective that I have now today.

Everything that my accident might have taken my legs, but it's given me back tenfold.

Hear his most revealing interview coming up on this edition of the A-list, August 16th, 2005.

Then, 16 year old Jordan Thomas lost his legs in a serious accident that almost took his life.

The young man walked away stronger, wiser and on a mission, eventually launching a foundation to help children in need of prosthetics.

And four years later, CNN recognized him as a hero of the week and by the end of 2009, named him as one of their top ten heroes.

Giving his foundation $25,000.

Well, Jordan, thank you for being on the A-list.

It's great to be here.

Thanks for having me.

Now, as you mentioned before, anybody who watches CNN knows that you are not only the hero of the week at one time, but now you're one of the top ten heroes on the planet.

So planet, right.

That is amazing how comfortable are you with with that moniker, with being called a hero?

Not at all.

You know, I don't want to minimize what people have to say.

I appreciate that very much.

But like I said, you know, I'm just kind of a normal kid that was thrown into an abnormal situation.

Hero.

That's you know, I don't like to be put on a pedestal or anything.

I just tried to to make a change to something that's not right, you know, And I just my parents instilled good values and I just tried to change something and help help people out.

And in turn, that's helped me tremendously.

And how did you get to be a hero of the week to begin with?

Well, I first got a crazy story.

A good friend of mine is a professional photographer, and I was in his art show and the CNN person came to cover the art show and said, Who's this kid?

Because my picture is between Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods.

And he's like, here's this kid.

And he said, my story.

And I said, well, let's get in touch with him.

And CNN originally did a piece and then CNN Heroes called to do a piece, and then it just snowballed.

It's crazy.

So it's it's been a huge it's been amazing.

It's so humbling.

I was watching a special last night on all the heroes.

And and these people are all around the world doing tremendous things for people and to be recognized alongside in it's huge and it's such an honor and it's so humbling.

He has raised $400,000 and helps each child.

See, that's why it doesn't matter how old you are.

A hero is someone who just acts no matter what.

That's Jordan.

A fearless young person trying to right a wrong.

In the fall of 2009, Jordan was chosen to receive the National Courage Center 2009 award.

Among the nominees were Michael J.

Fox, Muhammad Ali and Jenny McCarthy in 2009.

Jordan also received the Association of Fundraising Professionals Youth and Philanthropy Award.

Jordan says he saw a need and wanted to help, but maintains he's just like anyone else.

What was it like growing up in Chattanooga for you before all of this happened?

I mean, was it just your typical middle of the run family for others roughhousing, things like that?

Pretty much.

I just played a lot of golf, involved in a lot of sports and just really in the community, just as a typical kid and just did everything.

So it was great.

I'm so blessed to live here and we have such a great community.

When you go to school, you realize how fortunate you are to live here.

I'm certainly going to return here and I'm so fortunate to live here.

Now, has that family dynamic changed at all in the past four years?

Definitely.

I think it's brought us a lot tighter and we certainly have a newfound appreciation for things in life, not necessarily the big things, but the little things, you know, spending time together.

And I think it's definitely brought us closer as a family for sure.

For this 16 year old, life was as close to typical as it could get.

That is, until a family vacation to the Florida Keys.

Jordan had just returned from a summer in Spain, reuniting with his mom, dad and two brothers for one last trip before the start of school.

Will you explain a little bit about what happened that day in 2005?

Yes, a beautiful day.

My dad, mom and I wanted to go do some spear fishing and we were five miles off the coast in the Keys.

And I was pushed behind the boat by a big wave.

And I remember being underneath the boat and I heard the propeller go and I knew what had happened immediately.

I looked down and I saw blood in the water and I knew that something was wrong.

My dad jumped into the water and I and I said, Dad, my feet are gone.

We have to go.

I try to remain as calm as possible because I knew that I knew that this this injury was life threatening.

I knew that we had I had a sense of urgency, but I had also kind of a calmness come over my body that day that I can't explain.

It was a surreal experience in my life, and they did a great job.

Both my parents are doctors and I wouldn't be here today without them, so I'm so thankful for them.

They saved my life and I and I credit that to them.

So it was a horrible, horrible accident.

But the things that have come out of it have have made it all worth it for sure.

We got into the marina as quickly as possible and paramedics took over from there and did a great job getting me to a hospital and I was airlifted to Miami and went into surgery and everything was went seamlessly from when I was in the water to to there in the hospital.

It was the most surreal experience of my life.

I obviously that day I learned that there was a presence there that was watching over me that day for sure, and definitely certify that solidified that idea in my mind.

I wasn't really scared and I don't I can't explain why because now when I when I think about it now, if I put myself in that situation now, I would be terrified, I think.

But that day I just had this calmness and I can't explain it.

So you're the baby boy of three.

What are your brothers say about you?

You know, they heckle me and they keep me grounded and they're just normal brothers and they don't treat me any differently since, you know, since I've been on CNN.

It's just my brothers and I'm so thankful for them.

And I look up to them so much and I'm inspired by them.

Were they with you that day that the accident happened?

My middle brother was there.

He wasn't there on the boat, but he was at the house.

My oldest brother was in Tampa, but my middle brother, my parents called him and said, Look, this happened.

This is bad.

You have to drive to Miami.

And he just did it.

You know, He just did it.

And my oldest brother drove down that night and it was great, just that support there in the hospital.

And that's what I really noticed.

Those other kids locked with that family support because that's what got me through it.

What did your brothers do when they came to visit you that first day?

They say that they brought a sign that said, Run Forrest, Run.

And, you know, at that point, I knew I was okay.

You know, I knew I was out of the woods and I was so great, is so great to see them, my friends and my family.

It was unbelievable.

Jordan says it was the outpouring of strength, love and friendship that pulled him through during this time.

And from inside the hospital walls, he had a surprising revelation.

So when did the idea of the Jordan Thomas Foundation first come into your mind?

When I was in the hospital, I met so many kids that were less fortunate than myself and that right there, I realized that there was something I had to do.

I thought at first it would just be a one time donation, but I realized that we had to do something more sustainable.

So the foundation came up there in the hospital, and it's it's really taken off since then.

So you're lying in bed, you've lost your legs.

You're getting measured, I guess, for your own prosthetics.

And you think about starting a foundation.

Right?

Yeah, I you know, I just was I think I was raised very well.

And my parents kind of instilled these kind of values to think of others first.

And that stuck out to me.

And fortunately, I wasn't faced with the financial burden that most people are faced with, with prosthetics.

I knew that I could afford I could afford the best prosthetics possible for the rest of my life.

So I think that enabled me to walk out and to and to realize that the kids need my help.

And and that's why we started it.

What would you say is the general mission of the Jordan Thomas Foundation.

To provide kids with the prosthetics they deserve to be happy and productive members of society?

I think that all kids should get prosthetics and that's what we're doing.

How do you know when you're succeeding?

I don't know.

I just I think to maximize the amount of kids that you can help.

I don't I think it's an issue that will never be totally eradicated.

But you just have to make the biggest difference you can.

And I think we're on a good, good start.

So how long between the idea that hits you to start this foundation and the first recipient?

Jeez, it's a good question.

I think it was about a year.

How personal do you get with your recipient?

Um, it's been difficult because our first recipient comes from Mennonite family, so they kind of keep themselves pretty removed and all that.

And our third recipient is an immigrant from Eastern Europe or Western Europe.

So that's it's been tough with those two.

But our middle recipient, Noah, has been great.

We we have a great relationship and we're happy with all three of our recipients were so fortunate and we couldn't ask for a better recipient.

Just over a year we and we got Eileen in and we couldn't be happier.

We got just she's such an angel.

And seeing her walk that day, it was one of the best experiences of my life because, you know, I realized it was kind of a culmination of a group effort and the whole community really came together and I was so proud to see her walk that day.

And she was in a wheelchair until then, right?

She was essentially wheelchair bound and just and she and she the really sad thing was she would stay inside and watch her brothers and sisters go out and play.

And so I can imagine that.

But then we provided her with these legs and now she's so rough on her legs that she she can no longer we can't give her pediatric components because she breaks them off.

We have to give her adult components to this little girl because she's so hard on them.

So that's that's what we love.

We love to see kids return to the same functional level before their accident.

That's that's so blessing.

Oh, you got that new way, don't you?

Do you like this one more?

Since its inception, the foundation has selected and continues to work with three different children, providing prosthetics them until they reach the age of 18.

Jordan admits it is a major financial obligation for the organization.

So talk to me a little about that process often.

Do you have to get new prosthetics?

What's the cost associated?

A lot of people don't understand.

Like I said, my likes are $24,000.

They don't know the cost of it.

I didn't know anything about prosthetics before me.

Accident.

A lot of insurance companies will provide a kid with one leg for a lifetime, which is like shoes for a lifetime for a kid.

You know, it's just not feasible to have one pair of shoes forever.

So people have to spend a tremendous amount of money to give kids the prosthetics that they need to live happy, productive lives.

Our first recipient, they have six kids.

They sold their home, moved in with another family to afford the first pair of prosthetics.

So you see these kind of sacrifices that people make for their kids, and it just motivates you to do more and to raise more and to keep fighting.

Jordan's desire to help others goes far beyond fundraising.

He's become an advocate for change and a voice that resonates with lawmakers.

Now, with all this health care reform going on right now, I know that's also an issue close to home.

You've been to D.C.. What happened there when you were there?

It's a great opportunity is a great experience for me to see how lawmaking goes, goes on.

It was great.

I'm excited.

The language in the current legislation for for amputees, it's really exciting.

But we'll see how it how it turns out in the end because Washington is so stuff gets added and cut out.

And I don't know what the final product is going to be.

But right now there's a lot of good language about for amputees in there.

So was what was going on prior to this?

And what do you hope is the new language that will help support what you're doing?

Like I said earlier, a lot of insurance companies will put a $5,000 cap in families.

That's just that doesn't it covers a small portion of prosthetics.

So families are forced to pay out of pocket tremendous amounts of money.

My legs are 24,000, like I said.

So people would have to pay 20 19,000 out-of-pocket every time they want a new legs.

And that's just not feasible.

So what this new legislation will do is eliminate caps.

Insurance companies can't put caps, and people always have to have a base level of prosthetics that Medicare and Medicaid to provide.

So that's exciting.

It would eliminate the out-of-pocket expenditures that families should have.

So that's exciting.

So there's a lot of good stuff for amputees in there, and I'm really thrilled and excited about it.

Well, Jordan has accomplished a lot at a very young age.

He still considers himself a normal kid.

Let's go back.

So the accident happens.

You're about to be a junior at McCallie here in Chattanooga.

How did it change your junior year?

Well, it certainly was an unexpected change for me.

I was I was getting ready to go to school.

I just got back from Spain.

I was really excited about school and golf and bowling and just, you know, having the junior year that everybody envisions.

But, you know, it took a change that I wasn't anticipated.

But it it it was great, though, you know, like I've I realize how much and the support I had the whole way was great.

And but my senior year, I was committed after my accident to returning to my senior year and living that senior year out really well and returning to the golf course and returning to bowling alley and had a great year.

It is.

You go now.

And you are captain of your golf team before that happened.

And now I hear you're a pretty good golfer.

I'm playing golf better than I've ever played before.

You know, a lot of people say I have a mechanical advantage, but I don't know about that.

You know.

What's your handicap?

I'm bilateral amputee.

Oh, my golf handicap.

I'm a two.

I'm a two handicap.

I'm the two.

handicap Two.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I get to play a lot of golf, though, You know, I don't have a job.

And so, you know, I get to play a lot.

I'm just a student foundation.

Normal, normal kid, you know, So.

So you're 16.

There's a lot going on that you, you know, the driving, the sports, all that stuff.

What did you have to kind of reteach yourself to do?

I adapted pretty quickly, and that's what my accident was all about, was just adaptation.

I didn't necessarily have to do stuff the way I used to do it.

I'd do it differently.

You know, I just had to change how I did it.

You know, how I went to bed at night.

I have to always do.

I have just a routine and I've incorporated that routine into my life.

And now it's just second nature.

I don't think about it.

Did like golf specifically.

Do you remember getting out on the golf course that first time?

Was it frustrating?

Was it exciting?

It was the most liberating experience in my life.

It was just I was back.

I was in my domain again.

You know what I mean?

I wasn't I wasn't in doctor's offices.

I wasn't in hospital.

I was on the golf course.

And it was unreal.

And that was so exciting to hit a golf ball again.

And that first day, I knew the whole time, I knew that I would get back to where I was before.

And of course, I had naysayers that said, Jordan, you'll never hit it 200 yards again.

And I use that as motivation, and I'm playing golf better than ever.

But, you know, there's certain things that I have to adjust to on the golf course now that I never had to face in the past on even Lies are difficult.

Obviously, my stamina is not as good as it used to be, but you know, I can still play 36 holes of golf in a day.

And, you know, so it pretty unreasonable to expect to play more than that.

So it's just been about adaptation and just doing stuff a little bit differently.

And seems like you learned it pretty quickly.

Yeah, I picked it up pretty well, I.

Think because you're athletic.

That helped.

You mentioned that before.

Yeah, my athleticism, I yeah, I made a huge difference and I just I just picked it up pretty quickly.

So that certainly helped.

Jordan is now enrolled in the College of Charleston in South Carolina, and just like any other kid in college, he lives a typical student life.

He attends concerts, goes to sporting events, and, of course, makes the home for holidays or his annual foundation fundraiser.

Talk to me about how your day begins and how you adjust with the prosthetics versus maybe the how a typical 20 year old would start his or her day.

Well, I really only deal with my legs for about 5 minutes in the day.

I put my legs on in the morning and do my thing and then take them off at night, go to bed, put them on in the morning and do that.

I take them off to shower and that's it.

But otherwise I'm just a normal 20 year old.

I'm fortunate to have the best prosthetist in the world in Orlando, Florida.

So I don't really have to worry about my legs a whole lot.

So it's going.

To take you a while to learn how to walk on them.

It took a little while.

I was athletic.

I'm pretty athletic, so that helped tremendously.

I was on crutches for about a week and then I was I was moving around pretty well.

But I actually saw the video that when I was walking for the first time after my accident today, for the first time ever.

And it was funny just to see how gingerly I was moving.

And now it's it's just I don't even think about it.

Can I ask you some specifics about your prosthetics?

Sure.

So when you go there, is it kind of like picking out a car?

Like, do you get to say, I want my foot to be a size ten?

I want my legs to be like the big calves or I mean, not to sound callous, but I think it's fascinating.

Well, you know, I've always been really gangly my whole life.

So I had size 13 feet when I was 16.

And so I was sitting there in the at my prosthetics office on Brainerd Road, O & P, and they said, What size foot do you want?

I said, Well, I'm size 13.

And so they showed me a size 13, this big.

And I said, This is a boat.

No, I can't do this.

And so I changed to an 11.

I'm an 11.

And so shoe shopping is so much better now.

So it's great.

But you can yeah, if you want big calves and the cosmetic legs they make are so great now that you can't really I mean, if you're five feet from somebody, you can't tell.

But I'm not concerned about that.

So are you the same height that you were before?

Yeah, I am.

I'm a little bit taller, I think, but I think I've grown a little bit since I was 16.

So.

Yeah, so.

But I can.

But that's something that I can change too.

So next week I can be eight feet tall.

And you.

Yeah, that's great.

And every time.

Which set is this for you?

This is my fourth pair in four and a half years.

Yeah, because not only, I mean, for kids, they grow, but your limb changes as well.

So my limbs change so much, both of them.

So it's just the little adjustments.

And those are the things that insurance companies don't pay for too.

Is the all the little adjustments it requires.

It's it adds up.

And what can you sense below your knee?

Do you still have I mean, feelings down there?

We were talking before about sometimes you feel like your toes curl, but.

Sometimes I feel like my toes are curling or but my still my, my sensory perception with my feet is still there.

I still feel I know like if somebody just barely taps my foot that someone's tapping my foot.

But, you know, I don't really feel when people step on my feet.

I don't really I'm not concerned with that.

So that's nice.

I was at a concert the other night and people kept jamming on my feet and I said, okay, let's find whatever, you know.

So there are lots of parks I'm trying to handicap.

Parking is the best for me.

I think that's the biggest perk of losing your legs is handicapped parking.

It's like key to the city, you know?

So that's great.

It sounds like a sense of humor is key to your life.

Oh, definitely.

I think that makes people a lot more comfortable because it's kind of the elephant in the room.

You want to talk about it, but a lot of people don't.

People are really sensitive about it.

And but I just try to make people feel comfortable.

And I think that that helps.

Is that kind of a hard part of this, that people now have these expectations of you that you're, you know, greater than than the average 20 year old, that you should be more mature and handle things on a different level.

And is there a frustration there that sometimes you just want to be Jordan.

Sometimes, yeah.

Sometimes I just want to turn my phone off and just throw it in the river and just do my thing and be like every other kid.

But then I kind of comes back to it hits me and I keep in mind what I'm doing and who I'm helping, and it makes it all worth it.

I'm certainly willing to make some sacrifices and it comes with the territory.

You know, I can't have a big foundation that gets international acclaim and and not expect to have some kind of commitments and stuff.

So so it's definitely worth it.

But sometimes I definitely I have those desires to just be like anybody else.

But that's just not the way it is.

Who do you go to when you just want to feel regular again?

My best friends here from home, from college, and you know, at school, my best friends there.

But the relationships I developed here as a kid and my best friends, that's that's how I get to.

Was there ever a moment where you thought you felt sorry for yourself?

Why did this happen to me early on?

Later on.

You know, immediately.

Right after the accident, it was I never had that woe is me.

Thought that the time when I faced it the hardest, when it really sunk in, was really about a month and a half ago.

Believe it or not, I don't know why it took so long to really hit me, but I was in the shower and everybody was gone and I was going from my from my shower to my wheelchair.

And I fell really hard.

And and it just the just the longevity of it and the, you know, the fact that I'll wake up for the rest of my life without legs is it really hit me hard.

And I don't know what it was, but it just hit me that day and it's there.

Tough days, but, you know, you get through them and try to remain as positive as possible.

Now, do you know what you want to do when you grow up?

No, I have no idea.

I know that my foundation will always be something I do, obviously.

But as far as a career, I don't know.

But the foundation always be a part of it.

What's on your bucket list?

What do you hope to do in the next Whatever 80 years of your life that that you're going to check off and say, All right, that's one more thing I've got to do.

Meet the president.

Yeah, that's my goal.

That's my ultimate goal is to meet the president.

Yeah.

So I don't know.

I don't know if that's attainable, but I'm going to try and I keep trying to do the fundraising thing and see if I can meet the president.

I think I would.

I think as an American, that's the greatest honor you can have to meet the president, and that's my goal.

What would.

You say?

No.

Oh, golly, they let me down here.

What would I say to the president?

Oh, I don't know.

I would just probably ask him tons of questions.

I don't know what would come to mind, but I would just be such an honor.

I would love to just meet him and just say hello.

You know.

You said before and I've heard it in other interviews that you've done that you don't necessarily wish that the accident had happened, but at the same time, you don't regret it, right?

Absolutely.

I, um, it's unfortunate that it took something like my accident to give me the perspective that I have now today.

Everything that my accident, it might have taken my legs, but it's given me back tenfold.

And so I wouldn't change it for anything in the world because it's given me so much and I've been able to experience so much and learn so much.

But I wouldn't change it at all.

Do you still feel blessed?

Absolutely.

Every day.

Do you think it's funny that people have a hard time believing that?

Um, yeah, absolutely.

I would say there's no way you don't have legs, but man, I'm so fortunate.

Um, I have it made relative to 99.99% of the world.

I'm so fortunate financially, my family and just every aspect of my life, I wouldn't change.

And I'm really, really blessed.

Is there anybody who's been your mentor?

My parents, probably.

They're my biggest inspiration, my biggest mentors, and they're kind of my rock.

And it's I'm I'm struggling really hard.

I, I call my parents and they get me grounded.

They, you know, get me settled.

And they've been huge.

Yeah, that's my parents.

Do you think you've been a support for them through this or that?

They've been a support you.

I think it's, I think it's been a mutual deal.

I think that they've seen some things in me that inspires them and then I see how they have handled lives and what they've done in their lives.

And I'm inspired by them to their they've made so many sacrifices to get me where I am today, and I'm just so grateful for them.

So I guess you're going to work on your golf game.

I know.

I think one thing you have to strive for is that scratch, scratch.

Cut some, cut some strokes for sure.

I got to know, you know, no excuses now, but I've enjoyed talking with you so much and I know you are going to do great things and be able to change the world.

So we wish you luck.

Thanks.

I appreciate it.

Thank, Jordan.

For more information about the Jordan Thomas Foundation, log on to our web site at w tci TV dot org.

Be sure to join me next week as I take a lesson in fiddling around with Fletcher Bright.

I'm Alison Leibovitz.

And I'll you then.