BeTempered Episode 46 - The Bionic Man with a Golden Heart: The Jason Koger Story

Jason Koger Joins Hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr on the BeTempered Podcast for a Powerful Conversation on Resilience and Purpose

In this unforgettable episode of the BeTempered Podcast, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr welcome back Jason Koger, whose extraordinary journey of recovery and purpose delivers a masterclass in resilience. After a life-altering accident with a downed power line that surged 7,200 volts through his body, Jason became the world’s first bilateral bionic hand recipient. But his story goes far beyond groundbreaking technology.

With raw honesty and powerful insight, Jason recounts his path from those desperate early days—battling insurance denials for prosthetics—to becoming a prosthetic technology tester and an inspirational speaker. “It’s not just about the hands,” Jason shares as he demonstrates adaptive equipment like attachments for golf, softball, and bowling. Each piece is a testament to both innovation and his unwavering drive to reclaim a full and active life.

What truly sets Jason apart is his passion for helping others. Whether flying across the country to assist a fellow amputee or welcoming a young person into his home for mentorship, Jason is on a mission to ensure no one feels alone in their struggle. “I never want somebody to feel like I did, that I was the only one in the world,” he says.

The episode dives deep as Jason reflects on the meaning of passion, referencing Tim Tebow’s interpretation of its Latin roots—“to suffer.” In Jason’s words, real passion is found not just in victories but in the willingness to push through pain and setbacks. His perspective offers inspiration to anyone facing adversity, not just those with physical disabilities.

Connect with Jason at jasonkoger.com or follow him on social media to learn more about his story, book, and speaking opportunities. Through his example, and in conversation with Dan and Ben, this episode reminds us that our greatest purpose often rises from our greatest challenges—and that we’re all stronger together.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, my name is Allie Schmidt.
This is my dad, dan.
He owns Catron's Glass.
Thanks, allie.
Things like doors and windowsgo into making a house, but when
it's your home, you expect morelike the great service and
selection you'll get fromCatron's Glass.
Final replacement windows fromCatron's come with a lifetime
warranty, including accidentalglass breakage replacement.
Also ask for custom showerdoors and many other products

(00:20):
and services.
Call 962-1636.
Locally owned, with localemployees for nearly 30 years,
kitchen's best, the clear choice.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, where we
explore the art of findingbalance in a chaotic world.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Join us as we delve into insightful conversations,
practical tips and inspiringstories to help you navigate
life's ups and downs with graceand resilience.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
We're your hosts, Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr.
Let's embark on a journey tolive our best lives.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
This is Be Tempered.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
What's up everybody?
Welcome to the Be Temperedpodcast, episode number 46.
46, rolling right along.
We're almost to episode 52.
We are, which means that's ayear.
Yep, yeah, we're getting close.
We're getting close.
Time flies when you're havingfun.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
It is.
Yeah, Jason, how are you?
I'm great.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Man, it's good to have you back.
Everybody we've got for roundnumber two.
He's back up in the area to doa couple speaking engagements.
But Mr Jason Koger fromOwensboro Kentucky yes, jason
Koger from Owensboro Kentucky.
Yes, thanks for having me back.
Yeah, man, so you were here.
I don't know what episode thatwas.
Ben didn't even know whatepisode today is, so 37.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
Oh, you were here with Jeff and uh doing some
hunting and uh, we had a prettygood time.
Yeah, absolutely had a goodthree days three, four days yeah
, good experience.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Uh, you know, kind of kind of grew this friendship as
, as you know, the past sixmonths have went along and and
then from that it was like hey,I'll come back.
And um, so today, while we'rerecording this afternoon, we're
going to be headed over toanother local high school where
you're going to give anotherinspirational talk, to kind of

(02:07):
tell your story.
So for those who haven't heardJason's story, the complete
story, you want to go back tothat episode and listen, but
give a little, just kind of aquick synopsis of your story and
then, if you're watching onYouTube, if you're not, I
encourage you to get on.
We've got some of theseprosthetics that allow Jason to

(02:27):
do things that we all take forgranted you know, having both of
our arms and our hands andeverything else.
So we'll talk about thosethings, but just give a quick
little synopsis of your story.

Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, so I'm from Owensboro, Kentucky.
I was in the construction field, I was a pipe fitter and then,
March 1st 2008, I went on aquick four-wheeler ride around
my grandfather's farm and I camein contact with a downed power
line.
It took 7,200 volts ofelectricity and in order to save
my life, they had to amputateboth of my arms.

(02:57):
I became the first person inthe world with two bionic hands.
And you know, through the story, through the last time we
talked, obviously there was alot of faith.
You know you have to believeand I know last time we talked
about John 13, 7, that basicallysays that you may not

(03:19):
understand now, but one day youwill.
And that's kind of somethingthat's always been in my mind is
, I think I know my purpose now,but maybe I don't, you know,
maybe there's still a lot moreout there.
And, um, you know I've hadopportunities to meet a lot of
people.
Uh, I spoke last night at alocal church here and I got to

(03:40):
explain, uh, one story that, uh,that I did an episode on Hawaii
Five-0.
I did the Hookman episode andbecame real good friends with
Peter Weller, which was RoboCop,and last night I was speaking
about this and I told peoplethat Peter Weller decided he
wanted to come to Owensboro,Kentucky, and visit me.
Long and short.

(04:01):
He came in.
I asked him.
I said why do you want to cometo Owensboro?
Long and short.
He came in.
I asked him.
I said why do you want to cometo Owensboro?
And his words were I wanted tosurround myself with people you
surround yourself with, and ithit me in a way that you know.
Sometimes we think aboutcelebrities, we think about man.

(04:23):
Wouldn't it be nice to be thatperson?
I wish I could be him.
And, um, and you never thinkthat your story is ever going to
be that impactful, becauseyou're from a small hometown,
Owensboro, Kentucky.
Uh, just an old pipe fitter,yet a celebrity like Peter
Weller, and it's been severalothers.
Um, and I'm not, uh, namedropping, I'm not bragging about

(04:44):
being able to meet some ofthese people, but it's cool when
he told me that, because peoplelike him need people like me
too, and I try to tell peoplethat it's so important to know
that we are all important people, no matter our profession, how
much money we got, we're on TVevery day, it doesn't matter.

(05:05):
And it really opened my eyes toa lot of people, because I have
literally got to meet peoplewith a ton of money, with no
money celebrities, NFL, NBA, MLB, hockey.
Like every walk of life, I havegot to meet these people and

(05:28):
I've got to realize that we allhave one thing in common we all
got to have each other, and themore that we can share our lives
with other people, the betteroff this world is.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, and that's so true.
I mean, we talked about it thismorning on on the way to
breakfast, about how you know,the biggest thing that I've
learned through doing thepodcast is that a lot of people
are struggling, you know, andand what.
What they may look as at as asa struggle to them may not be a
struggle to others, but,regardless, that doesn't matter.

(06:01):
We still need each other.
We still need to um, to bethere for each other.
We still need to hear storiesabout you, about other people
who have been through thingsthat we can't even imagine, to
show us that, okay, that's notthat big of a deal what I'm
going through.
I'm going to get through it,and the important thing is just
taking one step at a time and tocontinue to move forward.

(06:25):
And that's what you did withlosing your arms.
Right, it wasn't somethingwhere you lost your arms.
You get your prosthetics andyou're a master at it.
Talk about that journey, of howyou looked at that and taking
that step every day.

Speaker 4 (06:40):
Yeah, so I tell people I'd only met one person
in my life that's lost an arm,and that was my grandfather, and
he passed away before I gothurt.
But he lost his left arm in acorn picker and my entire life.
Growing up I was 29 years oldWhenever I got hurt.
He was actually 29 when he gothurt as well, and you know this

(07:01):
whole time you're um, you knowI'm watching my grandfather
still cut tobacco and pick uphay and all this stuff, but I
never asked him questions, so Igot injured and then I start
thinking like man.
I wish I had somebody to talk to.
I don't have anybody.
I don't know anybody elsethat's ever lost an arm.
I literally felt like I was theonly person in the world that

(07:24):
lost an arm.
Now because Papa passed awayand started looking into
prosthetics, which Papa had theold Civil War body powered hook
and I still have those as well.
But I started looking intoinsurance and I found out about
a bionic hand.
I was like that's what I want.
I had a 21 month old littlegirl at home.

(07:46):
I had a three month old littlegirl at home.
I was told I would never, neverhave any more kids and I got a
son.
Now that's 13.
I wanted, you know I think weall envision what kind of a dad
we want to be Um, you know, Iwanted to be able to still do
sports.
I still wanted to be able to doall the things I want to do
with a son or and my daughters,you know.

(08:08):
So I started asking about thesebionic hands, cause I thought,
man, that would be so mucheasier to be able to hold my
kid's hand walk across thestreet and I tried to get
prosthetics and I get deniedevery single time.
So three or four times gettingdenied with prosthetics and they
said that it wasn't medicallynecessary for me to have

(08:28):
prosthetics.
I, finally, I was in the union.
I was pipe fitter, like I'dsaid a minute ago, and the UA
president, mark McManus, is hisname.
Mark McManus had heard my story, I'm assuming.
He did some calls and I gotaccepted to get bionic hands.
So I became the first person inthe world with the bionic hands

(08:49):
, just because my insurance saidyes.
The problem with prosthetics isyou might go to a prosthetist on
a street corner that gets theopportunity to do legs every
single day and has never done anarm.
They are still a prosthetistand I wish that they would break

(09:13):
it down to you.
Know a doctor's?
A doctor is what everybodythinks.
But are you going to go to aknee doctor to get a heart
transplant?
No Same thing with prosthetics.
So a lot of people.
What happens is somebody willmake a prosthetic, an upper limb
prosthetic.
A guy will go home with a$150,000 hand and never wear it
because the socket is notcomfortable.
Well, that that amputee doesn'tknow it's supposed to be
comfortable.

(09:33):
I mean, it's a foreign objecton your arm.
I had that opportunity to go toa guy that does nothing but
upper extremity.
So it's very comfortable.
It's supposed to be comfortable.
I wear them 16, 17, 18 hours aday.
I don't take them off.
I mean, I wear prostheticsevery single day.
So what bothers me is ifsomebody says, yeah, I'm gonna

(09:53):
buy this a hundred thousanddollar hand for his kid and it's
in his closet, well then thenext person that goes to this
insurance company and this Idon't even know what they are,
what they're called adjusters orsomebody that accepts whether
they get something or not theysay, well, Joe Blow had an arm I
spent $150,000 on and it staysin his closet.

(10:14):
I'm not buying another one.
So they think that the terminalin the hand is junk and it's
really the cheapest part of thewhole process.
Is the socket?
Yeah, and it really stinks.
So I really try to fight forinsurance and I really try to
fight for people to go to theright person and make sure
they're fitted right, becausethat affects me.

(10:34):
But it gave me the opportunityto work for the Bionic Hand
Company and now I get to teststuff and I get companies send
me stuff wanting me to try itout, and it's awesome that I get
opportunities to try so manythings out.
And the next thing aboutprosthetics is yes, I got these

(10:54):
really cool arms, myoelectric,bionic hand, but you still got
to have the body part stuff too,so you don't have to worry
about dirt water, whatever.
I can still throw baseballswith my, with my son, uh and I
and I talked about my son now,cause my girls aren't doing that
kind of stuff, but you know, Ican still shoot basketball, um,

(11:16):
I can hunt, I can fish.
There's nothing I can't do,right.
But you have to have multipletools, cause it's like building
a house.
You can't build a house withjust a hammer.
You got to have more than ahammer.
And I don't like, personally, Idon't like adaptive equipment,
so I don't wear adaptiveequipment all the time, but
sometimes I do have to, andwe'll get into that in a minute

(11:39):
too.
But it's really cool where thisprosthetic world has gone.
I mean, the technology isunbelievable.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Well, and as you say that if you're watching on
YouTube or if you're listening,I encourage you to go to YouTube
and see some of these adaptiveparts right.
So kind of talk about whatwe've got sitting here on the
table and what they do and whatthey've allowed you to do.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
Yep.
So I got asked to do acelebrity softball tournament
and I got to play with somepeople like Michael Irving, zeke
Elliott, you know, with theCowboys, several major league
baseball players, hockey, nfl,and whenever I was going to go
to this thing I was like youknow, I don't know how well I'll

(12:25):
be able to catch.
I can throw a ball with my bodypart stuff, I don't have to
have an adaptive equipment, buthow am I going to catch a ball?
How am I going to hit abaseball?
So I went to this event and thething that Dan's holding right
now is the actual glove thatgoes on my left arm, it goes on
my left prosthetic.
And I told them whenever Iplayed this celebrity softball

(12:48):
tournament put me in right field, because not a lot of stuff
goes to right field.
And the first thing it wasGordy Gronkowski, and Gordy
Gronkowski, which is RobGronkowski, you know all the
Gronk brothers he hit the balland I think it was him that it
went right field and I was likecrap, I got to catch this thing.

(13:11):
And I caught the ball with thatadaptive equipment piece right
there which looks like alacrosse.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
That's what I thought it was when you pulled it out
of the bag.

Speaker 4 (13:20):
yeah, and I caught the ball and Zeke Elliott walked
up with the Cowboys and hesmacked me on the butt and he
said dude, that was the coolestthing that I've ever seen in my
life.
So that's the glove, and thendown, that holds the ball.
The softball, I think it'sinside.
So that's how I throw asoftball.

(13:42):
The idea of that is, like youknow, you can put a frisbee
inside for a dog and wheneveryou throw it and you stop your
arm, the frisbee comes out.
That is basically the exactsame concept.
So when I throw, once I stop myarm, the ball comes out.
So obviously you've got to knowwhere to stop or you're going

(14:03):
to throw it straight in theground.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
Maybe'll throw it to kevin on the other side of the
glass.
Go for it.

Speaker 4 (14:10):
So it's super cool that that's how I throw a
softball.
And then this piece right hereis how you hold the bat.
Now the problem with that pieceis I think it was intended for
somebody that only lost one arm.
So now I can't put two hands ona bat, so that bat may hit the

(14:32):
umpire or it may hit the pitcher.
I don't know where the bat'sgoing to go away.
I have to make sure I hit theball first off or the bat might
go yeah, no telling where, butsuper cool.
So the next piece that Dan'sholding that is a bowling

(14:53):
attachment.
Basically I wear it in myprosthetic.
That is the old time with thecable.
And when I pull the cable itreleases the bushing that is
inside the bowling ball, andwhen you're not pulling the
cable the bushings spread.
You know it's tight, so itspreads out and it holds inside

(15:14):
the ball.
The problem is you gotta uhmake sure that it's loose enough
.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
But stiff, tight enough, yes.

Speaker 4 (15:23):
And there's a fine line and you adjust it at the
end with a wrench, with a wrenchyeah.
And you know, so far the ballhas came out of it.
But I'm thinking, one of thesedays you're liable to see me and
the ball Go flying down thealley.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
Look like Superman.
That will be today.
That will be today.
Yeah, We'll get some film onthat.

Speaker 4 (15:47):
But then you know, I've never played golf.
I never was a big golfer, butPing actually sent me some golf
clubs and an adaptive equipmentthat goes inside my socket,
which is in the truck that we'regoing to try to hit today.
I haven't been able to do itvery many times, so it's going

(16:13):
to take a minute for me to getused to it.
But you know all thesecompanies Ping and Softball,
they make a basketball arm, theymake everything, and it's
really to get people back todoing what they love.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Well, and that's as you're talking.
I'm sitting here thinking, youknow, if there's someone out
there who has lost an arm rightand they feel like, man, I can't
, I can't do the things I usedto do, or I can't do the things
that my friends do, I mean here,here's proof that there are all
kinds of different apparatusesout there that will allow you to

(16:39):
yeah, it's going to bedifferent, right, but you're
still going to be able to to dothose things.
That's what's really cool aboutseeing all these things.
And hopefully, if, if you knowsomeone out there that that um
has an amputation of any sorts,that um, you know, it's kind of
down in the dumps Maybe this isa way that you can kind of get
them back in action, to be like,hey, we can go out and pass the

(16:59):
ball.
I mean that's a pretty coolthing that that um, you know,
these companies come up with.

Speaker 4 (17:04):
Yeah, and you know, last time we talked about
failure, and failure is one ofthe best things you can do, as
long as you're strong enough tolearn from it and all this stuff
that you get.
You're not going to put it onand be in the major leagues or
in the NBA as an amputee.
It takes a long time to getused to it, because you've got

(17:25):
to figure out those spots whereyour arm needs to stop for the
ball to come out.
I mean, you know it's atraining.
This is just tools to help youdo it, and the rest of it is
your mindset.
And I tell people all the time,man, a mindset is what makes
you successful.
Um, being able to believe thatthere is a purpose for your life

(17:46):
and know that God has a biggerplan than what you got, and all
those things, is what makes yousuccessful or not successful.
And you know I get to talk toamputees all the time and I'm
not the only upper limb amputeein the world.
I mean I figured that out, butnow I make sure that people know
how to find me and get a holdto me because I want to help

(18:07):
them and I've made it where Inever want somebody to be like I
lost two fingers.
I'm not going to talk to Jason.
I mean, he lost two arms.
It doesn't matter if you losetwo fingers one finger yeah,
maybe my accident was worse ormaybe it is worse to lose two
hands, but you still lostsomething.
I'm still willing to help you.
You lose one arm same thing.

(18:29):
I don't want you to not talk tome because you look at me and
be like, oh, same thing.
I don't want you to not talk tome because you look at me and
be like, oh wow, he doesn't haveany arms and I'm only crying
about one.
You still lost something.
Um, you know, and we all needeach other.
So it doesn't matter whoseaccident.
Um was worse.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
You still got to have each other.
That's right.
You know, yeah, and and youknow that kind of leads into
something we were talking aboutthis morning on the way over is
you know, you spoke at thechurch last night and you talked
about the peace offering thatthey gave you Kind of talk about
that and what you do with that.
Because I think what's amazingabout you and I know there's
many people out there that giveback like you do but I think you

(19:10):
go a little bit above andbeyond in some situations
because if you talk about thatpeace offering and kind of talk
about what you do with that togive back to those people who
are really struggling, andspecifically into the story
about the lady going into theAT&T store- so kind of talk
about that.

Speaker 4 (19:31):
So, you know, whenever I first became an
amputee, I told my wife I wantto be the best prosthetic user
in the world and I think in theback of my mind I was thinking
it's not going to be that hardbecause I'm the only one.
And after I started, you know,I think people from the last
time you know I was on CNN, I'vebeen on Dr Gupta've been on
Hawaii Five-0, movie withMatthew McConaughey, apple

(19:54):
commercials on Super Bowl, likeall these things, has really
pushed my story and me doing thepublic speaking and podcast and
it opened up a door for me tosee that there's a lot more
people out there like me and Iknew right then, from very early
on, I want to be thatencouragement for people.

(20:15):
I want to help people.
I want people to not feel likeI did, that I was the only one
in the world and I want to helpthem be successful.
You know I knew how to doeverything on my own.
I could travel on my own, I candress myself, I can use the
bathroom, I can do everything onmyself.
And so I started reaching outLike if I hear a news article

(20:36):
about somebody that lost an arm.
I'm like a creeper, I mean,dude, I am Facebook following,
trying to find, trying to get ahold of and and I tell them it's
like, hey, if you need me, I'mhere, like that's what I want.
I want them to know I'm hereand I've had opportunity for a
lot of those people find me too,I think.
If you Google, uh, bilateralarm amputee or something I'm

(21:00):
like one of the first pops up.
So people find me that way.
They write me on Facebook,instagram, tiktok, whatever it
is, and I always respond and Ithink it blows them away.
It's like, man, I never thoughtyou'd ever respond.
You did that.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
Yeah, you're right.

Speaker 4 (21:19):
And I always respond.
So I had a lady in Kansas Citythat was at AT&T and a guy came
in with a gun.
He was going to shoot up theplace.
She tried to run out the backdoor.
She got shot so many times thatall the blood tried to keep her
organs alive so they quit,going to her extremities.

(21:42):
She lost all four, both arms,both legs.
Retired school teacher, um.
So I found out about her.
Uh, her daughter actuallyreached out to me and I flew to
Kansas City and I spent theweekend at her house and I
taught her how to eat.
I explained to her how I gotdressed like I want.

(22:05):
I wanted to help her be aperson that could take care of
herself again, instead ofsomebody doing everything for
her.
She got her driver's license,like she's.
You know, she's living life nowAgain.
It's not super easy, but she'sdoing it.
Then I had a kid from New Mexicothat his mom and dad reached

(22:26):
out to me and I think this kiddidn't really want to go to
school anymore.
I don't know if other kids weremaking fun of him or if he just
didn't feel good about himself.
So I flew him to Owensborowhere I live.
Spend the weekend with me.
We didn't do anything exceptgoing bowling, eating, hanging
out, but when he left he wassmiling and I feel like he went

(22:48):
home and really was like youknow what I got?
Prosthetics.
I'm going to be proud of myselfand I'm going to live my life
and if somebody doesn't like meor doesn't like the way I look,
don't look at me.
That's right, don't like me, youstill got to keep moving
because there's a hundred otherpeople that want to talk to you

(23:08):
and want to be friends with you.
Don't worry about that oneperson and want to be friends
with you don't worry about thatone person you know.
So I get the opportunity toshare my story with people like
that.
Bring them in or me, fly tothem and man, it means so much
to me too, you know, and while Igot these arms, I got my arm on

(23:29):
the table as well.
So a lot of people don't knowhow prosthetics work.
But basically there's twosensors inside the socket, and
when I feel like I raise mywrist, it opens, and when I
lower my wrist, it closes.
And then I have wrist rotators.
So when I go co-contract andwhen I lower my wrist, I'm just

(23:49):
holding my wrist down.
That's all I'm doing.
And then like raising my wristso right, holding my wrist down,
that's all I'm doing.
And then like raising my wrist,so right now, my hand is doing
360 open, close.
It's all muscles.
Uh, so that's basically how myelectrics work.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
so it's super cool yeah, talk about when you uh,
you told me the story aboutyou're.
You're riding in a car with abuddy or something in In the car
next to you there's a littlekid over watching you Talk about
that.

Speaker 4 (24:15):
So we get to a stoplight and this kid in the
back seat's looking and I tellmy buddy he's driving.
I'm in the passenger seat, somy right arm's in my hand, and I
was like, watch this, I'm goingto mess with this kid.
So I raised my arm up and hecould see my bionic up.
And he could see my bionic andI just started rotating.

(24:36):
I rotated it all the way aroundand then I put it down where
you couldn't see it.
So the kid is moving his mouth.
I'm sure he's telling his mom,mom that dude just turned his
hand all the way around and shelooks over him.
He's like what are you talkingabout?
So anyway, as soon as they getdone talking, the mom quits
looking.
I raise my arm back up and I doit again.
And then I set it down and thekid's like mom, I'm telling you

(24:58):
the dude is like so I mean I bether mom.
I bet the mom was like what iswrong with you?
Somebody didn't just turn theirhand all the way around in a
circle.

Speaker 2 (25:08):
That's good, all right.
So you know, since the lasttime you're here, we've had many
conversations, probably weekly,and there was a time I don't

(25:29):
even know how we got to it, butyou were talking about your
family, the Coger family.
You were talking it's anunbelievable story, but talk
about how maybe the family wasperceived because of this uncle.
And then I want everybody, oncethey hear the story, to
recognize how the family isperceived now because of some of

(25:50):
the things that you have beenthrough, because of some of the
things that you have beenthrough.
So kind of talk about thatstory and about your uncle and
your family.

Speaker 4 (25:59):
So you know my dad was raised up very poor.
In 1984, he started his owncompany with $1,500 was his name
.
My dad was a drill sergeant inthe Army.
He was the oldest sibling.
Everybody looked up to him inhis family.
He was a self-provider sincethe age of 13.

(26:19):
He would pick weeds out of abean field for people or cut
tobacco or whatever he had to do, probably drove when he wasn't
supposed to before he was 16.
Literally he was a cellprovider.
My grandparents are great people, you know what I mean.
They just didn't have a lot ofstuff.

(26:42):
And then my uncles.
I have three uncles and then anaunt, so there was a total of
four of them.
I'm not counting my dad, so itwas three uncles, one aunt and
you know, growing up we were avery, very close family and you

(27:03):
know, no matter, I feel like alot of people knew my family
cause my dad was very active inthe community.
When my dad started hisconstruction company he really
started um, giving back to thecommunity, community Christmas
wish, you know all that kind ofstuff and I got to watch that,
which was really cool.
My grandparents had never ownedtheir own house.
My dad bought the first house,the first amount of money he

(27:24):
made.
He bought a house and gave itto my grandparents so they got
to live in a house that theydidn't have to worry about
turning on electricity, turn itoff and owning something you
know.
But my uncle one of my uncleswell, I had.
So my dad was a pipe fitter.
I was a pipe fitter.
I got an uncle that was abullemaker another bullemaker.
My grandfather was anelectrician.

(27:45):
I had another uncle that was atinkster, so we had all trades
figured out.
But my uncle, dwight one of thebest guys you can meet just you
know he's great and he gotinvolved in some bad stuff.
You know, some drugs and reallyI don't know if he was ever a
user or not, but he hung outwith some pretty rough people.

(28:07):
Um, I remember growing up andseeing some of these people that
he was hanging out with andjust hearing that you know it
was trouble and, um, it wasJanuary 6th or it was, um, it
was before January 6th, maybe afew weeks before that.
My uncle was at Christmas.

(28:28):
Um, I was probably I don't know12 years old, 11, 12 years old,
and my uncle would not come intothe room where we were opening
gifts and we were a pretty tightfamily, you know, and I thought
, man, that's kind of weird.
So I went to the kitchen and myuncle was kind of bent over and
I seen this pistol in the backof his pants and I grabbed it

(28:51):
and I was like, what are youdoing with a pistol?
And he said, man, sometimes yougot to take care of yourself,
you know.
And I thought, all right, cool,you know.
I mean, I really didn't thinknothing about it.
Well, january 6th came thatmorning and my uncle actually
came by the house.
And I'll take it back.
On January 5th my uncle came bymy house and he was like hey, I

(29:12):
want you to know that I'm goingto Eastern Kentucky.
We had some family in EasternKentucky.
Eastern Kentucky is prettyrough, you know what I mean.
You don't mess with people inEastern Kentucky.
And so, anyway, he said I thinkI'm going to go to Eastern
Kentucky.
And he said I just want you toknow I love you.
He said you never know what'sgoing to happen in your life.
You know from day to day, youjust don't know.
And I just want you to knowthat I love you.
If I don't ever see you again,I just want you to know that.

(29:34):
So January 6th morning, earlymorning, phone rang at our house
and my dad answered.
And here I am, a nosy little 11, 12-year-old kid.
I pick up the phone house phone.
We didn't have cell phones then.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (29:50):
And I pick it up and I hear you know this is
sheriff's department Uh, yourbrother, Dwight, has been in a
shooting.
And I thought, oh, my gosh man,and I knew my uncle had been in
some stuff.
My, my dad didn't let me reallyhang out with my uncle a whole
lot by self, but still loved him.
Uh, I remember going to thehospital.

(30:11):
Uh, I remember, uh, dwightgetting to the hospital, going
into surgery and as he was insurgery, you know, we had some
police officers asking usquestions and come to find out
there was at least two peoplethat was in the shooting.
Well, we were sitting therethinking, wow, somebody came in
and shot my uncle, shot thisother guy, and thinking, wow,

(30:35):
somebody came in and shot myuncle, shot this other guy.
And so, um, we started learningmore about it.
My uncle got out of surgery andI remember going into the room
and people calling my dad saying, hey, you need to take pictures
of your brother for evidence.
And I remember, um, seeing myuncle's chest and he had bite
marks all over his chest.
And I remember seeing his handsand the end of his hands had

(30:55):
gunpowder and and kind of messedup on the end of his hands.
And then I remember there was abullet hole right below it,
right below his belly button,and it exited his left butt
cheek.
And then I remember seeing um,his privates like swollen and
black and blue where he had gotkicked and beaten.

(31:18):
I mean it was just a brokennose, black eyes.
I mean he was just unbelievablewhat it looked like and found
out later on that this guy andmy uncle were buddies and they
were both, I'm sure, doing stuffthey weren't supposed to be
doing.
I'm assuming, and nobody willever know, because the other guy

(31:42):
passed away, I'm assuming thatit was a bad deal went on and I
don't know, I don't know whathappened, but I know that one
guy died and my uncle was beatento death and um, you know, I
was around, went to court everyday with all this and found out
that the guy that passed um wasthe other person that my uncle.

(32:07):
They got in a fight and um, myuncle was protecting himself and
um, you know, this guy died andmy uncle was beaten so bad and
long and short, uh, he went toprison, uh, for manslaughter.
And I grew up seeing my unclegoing to prison, going to visit
him, hearing those doors shutbehind you, you know, watching,

(32:32):
you know my cousins, you knowhis kids grow up without a dad.
Um, I mean, man, it was awful,you know.
I mean it's just awful.
And I tell people sometimesabout my uncle and it's like
they're like, and when I tellthem like he's one of the best
guys you could ever meet, likehe would literally do anything
for anybody, he just got the thewrong stuff, you know, and it

(32:53):
caught up with him eventuallyand I remember like I'm never
going to live my life like this,ever, even though I loved him
to death.
I mean I've learned a lot ofstuff through him.
And, um, and my uncle's passedaway.
Now, uh, he passed away, uh, Idon't know less than a year ago,
you know a few months ago, andspent his whole life in prison,
got out and immediately had astroke and lived his last few

(33:17):
years in a nursing home and it'slike man, you know, here I am
12, 13 years old and I got tosee this my whole life and I
feel like growing up at 12, 13,14 years old, people knew who my
family was because they knew wewere good people.
14 years old, people knew whomy family was because they knew
we were good people.
But I'm sure that there wereparents like I don't know if I

(33:38):
need my kid to hang out withthem, I don't care if they hang
out with Jason, but maybe not athis house.
There were some people thatwasn't like that as well, but
you just always felt like, uh,people were judging.
And then you know, people learnwho my dad is.
My dad was a countycommissioner and my dad was

(33:58):
always doing great stuff for alot of people.
And then my accident happenedand you know I did several
events where a RoboCop came intomy house and we did an event
called Handing, where I raisedeighteen thousand dollars and I
gave eighteen thousand dollarsto my you know seven different
local charities.
And then it was twenty onethousand dollars and I gave, uh,

(34:21):
twenty one thousand to theelementary schools for Christmas
wish.
And I tell those stories, um,not because I'm proud of what
happened back then, obviously,and my dad definitely.
I mean he, he wasn't proud ofwhat had happened, but he still
loved his brother and sometimesyou just got to learn from

(34:43):
mistakes.
We all make mistakes.
None of us are perfect.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
No, and you're right, and you know, I think the
importance of that story is thatyou know we all have family
members that you know right,wrong, good, bad, indifferent
We've all done things weprobably shouldn't have done.
But what I, what I think isimportant to that story, is that
you know that your uncle was agood man.

(35:09):
Like he was a good man.
He was just caught up in somebad things and and, uh, you know
, it's amazing to to hear thatstory and for you to remember
that he was a good man, not that, not that he did bad things,
that you know you look at him ina light of you know what he he
would have still done anythingfor our family and, uh, and I

(35:31):
think that's important forpeople to hear because, again,
we all have, uh, differentissues in our families and and
things people do.
That may be not the right thingto do, but, um, what Ed Milet
says a lot in his podcast is alot of things in life,
especially when you're a kid, iscaught, not taught.

(35:51):
So you see things you know youfelt the love from your uncle
and um, so it was just when youtold me that story.
I'm like, okay, we need to.
We need to share that withpeople.
Um, you know, to recognizethere's good in everybody,
absolutely.

Speaker 4 (36:05):
And you know, growing up and the phone ringing and
when you answer it says you knowyou have a phone call from an
inmate and it was, like you know, I was excited to talk to him.
And you know we always talk.
He always told me he loved me.
You know my family's superclose.
I mean we all you know aunts,uncles, cousins.

(36:27):
I mean we always tell eachother that we love each other
and do a lot of stuff together.
And a lot of families aren'tlike that, you know,
unfortunately.
And um, you know we have, we'vealways done Christmas and
things together and but you know, I just I seen so much.
I tell my kids about it all thetime.
It's like, you know,consequences are real.

(36:47):
And you know, for me to walkinto a prison and they pat you
down at, you know 12, 13 yearsold, and you go into a room and
there's, uh, bars in front ofyou and you hear that lock door
shut behind you and then thenext one, you hear a buzzer go
off.
That door opens.
You go in.
You see the razor wires, uh,you see.

(37:10):
You go into the lunchroom whereother inmates are.
There's no glass that you seeon TV.
You're in there with otherpeople and you know they're
sitting in a certain seat sothat there's cameras on them all
the time and the chairs andtables are just a little bit
below your knees so you can'tpass stuff underneath the table.

(37:32):
But you're in there with otherpeople and you look around and
you see people that look verysmart and um, probably got in
there for fraud.
Then you see people in therethat look really rough and it's
like you look at how people areraised and the choices that you
make and I think it goes back tothe choices I had to make as an

(37:53):
amputee.
I could have been depressed,quit, didn't want to live.
That wasn't my choice.
My choice was I want to be ableto do the things I wanted to do
before.
I want to be able to raise mykids the way I had always
dreamed of raising my kids.
I want to be a great dad.

(38:14):
I want to go outside throwballs with my kids, I want to go
to their sporting events and Ido all that stuff Like I don't
miss much.
I don't want to miss anything.
You know we talked about thatone time.
Whenever, you know, I gotfriends that have one kid and
they're like I don't know whyyou let your kids do so many

(38:36):
sports.
It takes up so much time.
I only have a few years of thisand that's it.
I got plenty of years afterthat to do what I want to do per
se.
So it's important for me to livea life and show the kids I love
them and teach them from right,wrong.
Tell them the stories of thethings that I've experienced and

(38:56):
things I've gone through andhopefully it helps them or
somebody like listening today.
You know that.
Don't be embarrassed to whoyour family is, I mean you.
Just you learn you get caught.
Some people have done that kindof stuff and never been caught.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
That's right.
You get caught.
Some people have done that kindof stuff and never been caught.
That's right.
Well, and I think that's youknow.
Going back to any listeners outthere, you know if there's
someone just having aconversation with someone, you
may they may not show any signsof struggle or what they're
going through, but just simpleconversation.
How are you doing today?
You know how's, how's yourfamily having those

(39:34):
conversations that some peopledon't even get to have, and so
by sharing these stories, whoknows who were impacting that
could have had been up like you,like your dad or like your
uncle, by the choices that theymake.
So if we can, if we can go outand share these stories and help
these people.

Speaker 4 (39:53):
you know to recognize that there are choices in life
and there are consequences inlife, and you know to try to
look at those before you knowyou make that choice and I think
you and I got on thatconversation because you know my
uncle just passed and you knowhe was basically asking me, know
who was he, what'd he do?

(40:14):
And kind of got in theconversation of exactly what he,
what he's done.
You know, and you knowsometimes it's hard to talk
about what I experienced withthat, because you don't want
people thinking that you're abad person or your family's bad
people.
They just made a mistake.
Mistake, you know, and um, Ithink that's that's what I get

(40:35):
from.
It is, whenever I tell thestory it's like uh, you know, I
don't tell it as a proud momentin my life, you know, it's just
something that happened in mylife that taught me some lessons
.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
So what's next for you?
Where, where do you see thisgoing?
So what's next for you?

Speaker 4 (40:54):
Where do you see this going, man?
I never know.
I would have never imagined.
I try to break it down fromyear to year or every three or
four years or whatever.
And you know, growing up I hadgoals.
We wanted four kids.
I wanted to live in the county.
I was going to start.

(41:16):
You know, I would own my dad'sbusiness at some point.
You know, you just have thosethings that you want to do and
then one day you go through anaccident and everything that you
thought was going to happen inyour life at 29 years old had
changed.
So now I'm an amputee and it'slike, you know, at that first
year, first two years maybe, howam I going to live?

(41:38):
Like, how am I going to providefor my family?
We only have two kids at thetime.
Is there going to be any more?
How would I do the sports?
Like, I'm not going to be thedad that I really wanted to be,
you know.
Not going to be the dad that Ireally wanted to be, you know.
And then you think about my wife.
Doesn't get very much, um, verymuch out of people.

(41:59):
Don't see what my wife has done, the things that's happened.
She's 28 years old.
She could have left me, youknow.
And obviously I probablythought, man, if she rose up and
leaves, like, can you blame her?
Like, like, this is not thelife she wanted either and um,
it's just so much of I don'tknow.
But I still had the faith.

(42:19):
My wife's always had faith, andwhen we got married, I think we
truly were through better forworse, and, um, was it hard?
Yes, did we struggle some, youknow?
Uh, did we fight?
Probably?
And um, and then things juststarted happening because we,
literally, we laid our lives andand we, we let God before that,

(42:45):
we allowed God in our heart andjust kinda, and it's hard to
say sometimes, but we justwalked the path that he laid out
.
That's what we've always done.
So it was one of the things waslike, you know what, I don't
know how, but I'm still going towalk this path, we'll see what
happens.
And I just kinda and it's superhard, I mean you, you lay stuff

(43:07):
down and you don't reallyunderstand.
You just start walking anddon't look behind you, um, and
then doors started opening.
Then people started asking meto do public speaking.
So I started speaking.
I actually failed publicspeaking in college.
It's hard to believe.
So I was like now this I'mgetting asked so many times

(43:29):
without advertising I stilldon't advertise much and I start
speaking and I tell my storyand people were like, do it
again.
I'm calling somebody else andit's got busier, busier.
Then I started working with theprosthetic company.
Um, now I'm there, I'm there,test dummy, you know, and, and I

(43:50):
get everything that comes outbrand new because they know I'm
going to use it.
I'm going to try and I'm goingto see what happens and I'm
going to tell them what it does,what it don't.
So I've had this opportunity tosee how technology has really
grown and there's some bigthings coming that I'm probably
can't even really talk about yet, that I kind of know a little

(44:10):
bit about.
But man, just what, what'sgoing to happen is going to be
unbelievable.
Hopefully I see all this stuff.
Um, the speaking has gotten more.
I'm starting to feel morecomfortable.
I'm really hard on myself.
So most of the time I'm likedid everybody like it, you know?
Cause I don't know, I don'tthink they did.
But then it's like yes,everybody loved it, everybody.

(44:41):
And then you get asked to eatagain.
So I think that, uh, fromfailing public speaking, so what
else is is in it for me.
You know, I've done tv stuff,um.
I wrote my first book, um handeda greater purpose, and then I'm
starting to do more speeches.
Who knows?
I mean, maybe there's a movieout there, maybe there's, I
don't know, I really don't know.
I just know that I'm going tokeep on walking this path that
God has laid out for me and I'mgoing to take the good and the

(45:03):
bad.
I'm not perfect, I never willbe.
I'm going to mess up, um, butI'm going to go through a door,
every door that's opened up forme.
I'm not going to look behind meand and we'll see.
I would love one day foreverybody in this world to know,
not necessarily who Jason Cogreis, but what, what God can do

(45:25):
in somebody's life.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
The story yeah, that's amazing man.
What do you think?
This is first time meetingJason.
You weren't here last time.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
Yeah, I don't know how you feel public speaking.
That's my first thought.
But no, I mean, yeah, yourfaith, I mean that's what I feel
, like that's the biggesttestament.
Right, it's just your faith.
Like you dug hard in your faithwith your marriage, Like until
you just said that I wasn't eventhought how hard it was on your

(45:54):
wife, but even the recoveryprocess, all that and how her
life changed.
But so many times in thosesituations marriages fail.
Right, People take the easy wayout.
They don't want to fight for it.

Speaker 4 (46:08):
You know, jenny had to feed my 21-month-old, then
she had to feed my 3-month-old,then she'd feed me.
My food was cold, then she'dfeed herself.
I know her food was cold.
Same thing giving a bath.
You know she would give my21-month-old a bath.
She'd give my 3-month-old abath.
She had to give me a bath, thenshe gave herself a bath.
You know what I mean.

(46:29):
And there was times where shewas just I don't even care if I
take a shower myself, I justwant to go to bed, I'm just
tired, I'm, you know.
I mean so that first year wasman.
There was a lot of hard days,man, it was just.
But you, every day you woke upit's like something's going to
happen today and it's going tobe a little bit better and

(47:00):
tomorrow's going to be a littlebit better.
You know, and and I seen thatspeech from Tim Tebow and he
talks about setting goals andand I'll probably talk about
this in school today whenever Italk but when you set a goal, I
feel like I see a lot of kidslike I want to be in the NBA,
major leagues, whatever.
So they set this goal and itdoesn't happen for them.
And I think sometimes peoplelook at that and it's like you
know, god didn't do what Iwanted.

(47:20):
But Tim Tebow had basically saidthat in order to reach a goal,
you have to be passionate aboutthat goal, and I think it was
the 12th century meaning ofLatin.
Meaning of passionate is tosuffer, which is totally
different than some of you wouldthink.
So he says you have to bepassionate enough that, if you

(47:42):
fail the bad days, that you keepgoing and you still try to
reach the goal that you want toreach, and if you are willing to
fight the bad days, the gooddays, the hard days, and you
continue to try to reach thatgoal, you're very passionate
about it.
You're probably going tosucceed in it.
Where most people just give up,most people that first failure,

(48:05):
I'm done and that's why theydon't reach that goal because
they're not passionate.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
And you've got to learn to keep going.
You've got to keep learning totake that step.
And you talk about, you know,following God's path, right, and
I just you know we hadbreakfast this morning.
You met Maddie and Brian, andBrian and I had a long
conversation last week aboutcontrol.
You know, and it's hard for me,you know, you talk about faith

(48:33):
and you talk about, um, you know, being prayerful in your life
and and and doing good things.
And I am, I, you know, with withall that I do, with business
and sports and family and allthose things.
I'm I'm not a control freak,but I try to control it, right,
because you got to kind ofmanage all those things.
And you know, brian made thecomment he's like man, why are

(48:56):
you trying to control everything?
You know, if you have faith,let let the control go, you know
, go with the flow.
And so when you talked aboutfollowing that path, that's what
I'm trying to do, you know, istrying to follow that path.
I don't know where it's going,right, you don't know where it's
going, but I think if we havefaith and we follow that path

(49:18):
and we're passionate about itand we have those goals out
there, whatever they might be.
You know that path will take usto where we want to go, but
it's a hard thing.

Speaker 4 (49:28):
Yeah, you know the story.
We heard about the way, the waythey started a construction
company.
Like you know, zero money.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
He was hungry, that's what it was, and his back was
against the wall.

Speaker 4 (49:40):
Yeah, and he was hungry and that's how he started
his company and it seems likehe's doing very well.
And when you're hungry, thingshappen.
Yeah, I was hungry whenever Igot hurt.
You know I wanted to see thingshappen.
Yeah, um, I was hungry wheneverI got hurt.
You know, I wanted to seethings happen.
Uh, I tell my son and I feellike I feel like my son is going

(50:03):
to have a little edge on otherkids and he does sports.
You know, he wants to be in themajor leagues.
He wants to do all this stufftoo.
They all do right.
Every kid does but I feel likehe's going to have a little bit
of an edge on people becausehe's going to be hungry.
He sees what happens whenyou're hungry, of what success
can look like.
And I talk to him about thatword passionate.
You know, if you're not in it,it ain't going to happen.

(50:26):
If you don't do it every day,it's never going to happen.
And I try to and it's okay.
You know, if it doesn't happenLike if you're not passionate
about something and it doesn'twork out, you can't blame God
for the reason you didn't makeit.
You know, and I think that'swhere some people they rely so
much on God that it's like, ifGod has a path for me to be in

(50:50):
the major leagues, I'm going tosleep till lunch and when I'm 20
I'm gonna make 100 milliondollars you know what I mean?
yeah, and it still takes.
It takes you too.
It's not just right, god justdo this for me.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
That's right you know , and again you got to be hungry
yeah, and even though you dothe work, you still may not
succeed you're right, right, andthat's okay, that's not the
path.
You know that's not the pathyou're supposed to be on and you
gotta have you gotta have thefaith to do it.

Speaker 3 (51:19):
And I mean, you know one of the things that I feel
like a lot of people are scaredto take that step right, or
scared to take the chance thatmaybe would have opened the door
for MLB or you know, whateverdream that you're praying about,
and that's that's another bigthing.
Like you have to have the faithto believe in God, and you know
that's one of the things likewhen you know when you're saved

(51:40):
or however your faith is, youknow the Holy spirit comes into
you.
And I, I people always talkabout like well, how do you?
You know, how do you walk infaith?
How do you know what path?
And I just always am like, if Ifeel like God inside of me is
telling me like, hey, this isthis, is it a God thing or is it
something that I want?
If you're following God's path,like I don't think that we serve
a God, that's going to be likeyou know that's all not the

(52:02):
right path.
Man, like watch me get you hereYou're supposed to go.
I feel like god's going to putyou right on the right path and
you know, let's say, your sonwants to be in mlb, my son wants
to play, you know, nfl, mba orwhatever.
As fathers like it's also ourjob to keep that passion going

(52:27):
right.
Keep the fire.
Like so many times, I feel likeparents will.
Well, are you really going tomake it to the nba?
You know you're, you're fivefoot, you're not going to make
it to the nba no, like screwthat, you know, find a niche,
try to get there.
But what's going to happen isthey're going to have the
passion they're going to developthe work ethic they're going to
, you know, have the tools tosucceed.
Whatever life goes after thatpassion falls out or after that

(52:49):
dream dies, they're going tohave the passion and the work
that they had at that that theycan move somewhere else.
That they'll learn.
We learn stuff every single day.

Speaker 4 (52:57):
And we all know that the chances of making NBA,
whatever it is, whatever thatsport is, is very, very slim.
And you're exactly right.
I think some parents are like,hey, listen, dude, we're doing
this for fun.
It's never going to workbecause one in a million.
But I teach my son that he maybe that one in a million, right,

(53:20):
like I don't want him to giveup or not think, or not think
that there's even a possibility,because it is a possibility for
anybody, right, uh?
But I also teach him that if itdoesn't work out, it's not that
you failed in life, right, it'sjust not your path.
So it's a, it's a fine line,it's super hard, and you know,
talking about faith too is um,we are sinners, we all do wrong,

(53:42):
um, I told you a story about myuncle and he was on his
deathbed when he had a strokeand, um, I don't know if my
uncle was ever saved Through allthese years.
I have no clue.
But I can tell you, weeksbefore he died he asked for
somebody to come in and praywith him and his last couple

(54:04):
weeks.
I truly believe that he wassaved and I think that I believe
that he's in heaven, eventhough he did wrong, even though
things happened.
I think that he asked to besaved and he wanted to.
You know I'm sorry andunderstand that God's there.

(54:26):
I mean he talked about it a lotthe last couple weeks, a few
weeks before he passed, so I gotto witness that as well.
You know what I mean I'mtelling you.
When I tell stories, I thinkpeople look at me and they think
, ah, he's kind of full of it.
I don't think all this stuffhas ever happened.
I've got to see some really,really amazing things.
Just like I said about RoboCopwanting to surround himself with

(54:53):
people, I surround myself withPeople in Owensboro Kentucky.
They should be very proud ofthat, because the people that
I've been around my life my mom,my dad, my wife, my cousins, my
sister, in-laws, everybody I'vebeen around has formed me to
the person I am today.

(55:13):
It's not just me and I do getall the credit.
I mean people see me and theysee that I'm different and that
I'm successful.
So a lot of times I do get allthe credit, but I don't deserve
all the credit.
I mean, you know, it'sliterally faith, family, friends

(55:34):
.
Um, there's been a lot.
There's been a lot to form meto who I am today.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
Yeah, yeah, and that's what life's all about,
right, you know it's about.
It's about your family, it'sabout your faith, it's about you
know, persevering throughwhatever comes your way.
You know, just again, just justto keep going.
So, jason, as we close thisthing out, you got any any final
thoughts you want to leave withthe listeners?

Speaker 4 (55:59):
You know I do.
Um, no matter what happens inyour life, if you want something
, be hungry, you know, and um,be passionate and uh, live, live
the ups, the downs, figure itout.
Try to understand that life'snot perfect and it's never going
to be perfect.
And if somebody tells you it'sgoing to be perfect, they're

(56:21):
lying to you, because life ishard.
Life is definitely hard, andyou know, you start looking at
man, we could go into politicsor anything else, right.
And at the end of the day, Itell people our country's so
divided and I don't know howwe'll ever get out of that

(56:44):
division that we have.
But it shouldn't matter who wevote for, it doesn't matter the
things that we think.
Once somebody is in a leadershipand I don't know why, I'm
talking about politics, maybethis is something totally
different too but once you're aleader, whether it is politics
or anything else, you shouldsupport that person.

(57:14):
You should.
You should want more for uspersonally, more for our country
.
We have a politician, we have apresident right now that we
should all support, whether youvoted for him, you didn't vote
for him.
Same thing with not politics orsomebody you look up to.
You should always supportsomebody that's in front of you
and you know, you, just, we allneed to be one, we all need each

(57:38):
other.
Again, I know I said thatearlier and I wouldn't be who I
am today, I wouldn't be assuccessful as I am today if it
wasn't for me needing somebodyand somebody being there for me.
And I think that's why I amthere for other people, because
it's not that I.
You know, it's funny, I hadanother bilateral arm amputee

(58:01):
that is in the TV business andwhen I got that show on Hawaii
five oh, cause I wasn't lookingfor it he called me and he was
like I just want to let you knowthat I'll never lose another
job to you again.
And I was like okay, and he saidI'm going to order me some of
them by on a cans and I I justended the conversation.

(58:23):
I was like you know what?
You still got to be a good user.
Yeah, that's right.
And it's people like that thatdoesn't want to see anybody
succeed.
I'm totally different than that.
If I can get somebody tosucceed more than myself, I'm
considered the best prostheticuser in the world.
If I can make somebody else thebest user, hey, that's great.

(58:48):
You know what I mean?
I'm not.
I'm not too good to helpsomebody be better than me, and
I think we all have to have that.
I think you get people's like Iwant to have more money in them
, I want to be more successful,I want to have a better business
, I want this, I want that, Iwant it better than everybody
else.

Speaker 3 (59:04):
And really man it doesn't matter.

Speaker 4 (59:05):
at the end of the day , we just got to help each other
.
We got to love on each other,give each other hugs and
encourage each other to live afull life.

Speaker 2 (59:15):
Yeah, and that is so true.
I think about again.
We've talked about it manytimes on this podcast about our
basketball team that we coach,and there's nothing more
fulfilling than to take a kid inany sport or in any walk of
life, from from where they're atyou know, that first day of
practice, like, for instance, inbasketball and to go to the

(59:38):
last game of the season and towatch that kid's transformation
through work, you know, throughyou know, building those
relationships with their teamand continually learning and
pushing themselves to get better.
Man, it is so fulfilling to beable to watch, especially those
kids.
Watch those kids and watchtheir minds work, watch them

(01:00:00):
work hard and then to get to theend of the season and watch
them have success.
Success through failure, right,and um it it is.
I think that's a very, verygood spot to end.
This is that we should all wantpeople to be the best that they
can be, to be more successfulthan us, not just our family,

(01:00:20):
right?
I like, I want, I want Ben tobe successful in what he does.
I want his kids to besuccessful.
I want your, I want, I want Bento be successful in what he
does.
I want his kids to besuccessful.
I want your kid.
If we want that, how muchbetter is this world going to be
instead of, you know, beingselfish and saying, hey, jason,
you got the Hawaii five.
Oh job, you ain't getting nomore, you know or I'm too busy,
or you know.

Speaker 4 (01:00:41):
And for those kids to grow you had to volunteer.
And and that's another bigthing that people do not want to
volunteer their time.
They don't have enough energy,they don't have enough time to
do anything.
And I hear that because Icoached my son from T-ball to 12
.
I didn't even play baseball, soI did the best that I could.

(01:01:04):
I can't even throw a ballreally really good, so I did the
best that I could.
I can't even throw a ballreally really good, so I did the
best that I could, and allthose kids that was on my team.
But then I'll ask somebody thatplayed college ball hey, won't
you volunteer to help me?
I ain't got time and I'm like,dude, I fly 100,000 air miles a
year.
I don't have time, but I'mgoing to make time because all

(01:01:27):
these kids deserve it.
And that's another thing.
Man, we don't have volunteerslike we used to.
People's got to do exactly whatwe're talking and give their
time to help somebody besuccessful.
And if you don't even know aboutthe sport that you're coaching,
teach them about life.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
That's right.
I mean just look at what we'redoing today, where we're going
to go this afternoon, and you'regoing to tell your story in
front of 400 or 500 kids, right?
We're volunteering our time inhopes that, if we can get to one
of those kids who arestruggling and look at you and
hear your story and feel like,okay, I don't have it that bad,

(01:02:07):
you know, I can get through thisman.
That's, that's what life's allabout, you know.
It's about giving back andtrying to help those in need.
So inspire the next generation,right?
Exactly what's what we're goingto have.
That's right.
So, jason, where can peoplefind you?
Your book, your social media?
How can?
Can they, how can they get intouch with you?

Speaker 4 (01:02:25):
yes, so, um, my book is.
Uh, actually, if you go to mywebsite, it's jasoncogarcom and
I am about to redo my websitebecause it's old.
Um, you can order the bookthrough there, which goes to
amazon but I'm hoping to changethat soon where it literally
goes to me, so that I can signthe book and I would mail it

(01:02:47):
straight from my house.
So if somebody wants to reachout to me on social media, I
would do that.
You know, I think it's betterthat I sign a book, send it in
the mail myself and then theyget it personalized from me.
I'm on Facebook.
It's Jason Koger Official.
So I have a page, becauseyou're limited to friends on a

(01:03:08):
normal, regular page.
I'm on Instagram, I'm on TikTok, I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on
everything, everything you canbe on.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
So if there's a corporation out there, if
there's a chamber of commerceand they're looking for a
speaker, they can hit you up.

Speaker 4 (01:03:28):
Yes, they can definitely hit me up.
Or I'm also Marcus Luttrell,which was a lone survivor.
So Marcus Luttrell has acompany called Team Never Quit,
so he has several speakersunderneath him and you've got to
be handpicked by him.
Um, I am one of his speakers,so they can also also find me on

(01:03:50):
team never quit, so I have likean agent, I guess somewhat.
Now it makes me sound reallycool, take that public speaking,
yeah, yeah uh, but you know,anybody wants to reach out to me
, I'm gonna get back with them.
It may take me a couple of daysbut I'll get back with them.
And I love when people walk upto me and even if somebody sees

(01:04:10):
me out, I try to wear shirtsthat inspires people to talk to
me.
You know, I got one that saysdon't shoot, I'm unarmed.
I have one that says look, mano hands.
And I have one that I wear tothe airport and it says, um,

(01:04:31):
it's not gay if it's TSA.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
Well we wearing that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
Oh, that's good stuff .
Well, that caught me off guard.
Well, if there's anybody outthere looking for a speaker,
jason's story is so inspiringand I would encourage you to
reach out and hit up his socialsand all those good things.
So appreciate you making thetrek back up this way, the
four-hour trek, and it's greatto hang out.

Speaker 4 (01:05:04):
We're going to have a fun day today and and keep this
thing rolling it is man and Iappreciate you having me again
and give me the opportunity to,uh, to speak in front of people.
I mean, you know, last nightwas thursday night.
Um, they had the church servicefor me not on a wednesday, not
on a sunday and there was acouple hundred people there, you
know, and man, whenever, man,whenever I seen that I was like

(01:05:26):
literally people came just tolisten to me.
Yeah, sometimes that shocks me,you know what I mean, but I
hope I changed people's liveslast night and.
I'm willing to do it anywhere,anytime, any place.
Yeah well, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
Well, everybody, be sure to share this episode.
Well, everybody be sure toshare this episode.
Be sure to continue tosubscribe and comment and all
those good things.
We need to help the algorithmso that we can continue to get
Jason's story and other storieslike that out there.

Speaker 4 (01:05:55):
So everybody go out and be tempered.
He said in his speech that youhave to be passionate in what
you want to do, the goal thatyou set.
You got to be passionate.
You got to be passionate.
And he said that the definitionof passionate in the 12th
century Latin meaning ofpassionate is called suffering.
And he said you have to bewilling to go through the highs,

(01:06:15):
the lows, the pain and stilltry to reach the goal.
And if you are willing to gothrough all that stuff, the pain
and all the hard times that'sassociated with this, goal that

(01:06:39):
you got.

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