September 1, 2025 • 32 mins
On a quiet March afternoon in 2008, Kentucky resident and father of two, Jason Koger, climbed onto his four-wheeler for what should have been a routine ride. Moments later, 7,200 volts of electricity ripped through his body, stopping his heart and changing his life forever. Jason woke up in flames, his body burning from the inside out. Doctors told his wife to prepare for the worst. To survive, Jason would lose both arms. What followed was a journey of pain, resilience, and miraculous second chances that would take him from a hospital bed to becoming the first person in the world with two bionic hands.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I told my wife.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I said, Hey, I'm going to ride full wheeler's for
a minute round the farm.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
The sunbeam down onto the dirt fields as Jason drove
down the gravel road. He made his way around the
corner and knew there would be another turn coming up shortly.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And by the time I turned and looked, I seen
something that I didn't know what it was at first.
So I hit the brake on my full wheeler and
I slid into this line.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
The power line bounced, then it hit him in the chest.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
The next thing I remember was a vibration going through
my body and then everything went dark.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
This is the Miracle Files. I'm Emily Jones.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
And I'm Holly Worthington. We're two sisters who love a
captivating true story, but we're also seeking more light in
our lives.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
So we're on a mission to find and share unforgettable,
uplifting stories of God's miracles. We hope you'll join us
on this journey. Welcome back to the Miracle Files. I
am so excited about this story today.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Yeah, this one is heart wrenching, but it's also so
cool in so many ways. And today's story is about
Jason Koger. He's from Kentucky. He's a father and author,
a public speaker, and he's just such a good guy
with an incredible story.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, what Jason and his family had to go through
is probably one of the darkest moments that I can imagine. Yeah,
but just pay attention to how his family comes through it.
It's really powerful.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Okay, let's just jump in, all right, let's go. It
was March two thousand and eight, and it was also
Jason Coger's first weekend off after working weeks of twelve
hour shifts. He couldn't wait to spend some time with
his wife, Jenny, and their two daughters.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And I told my wife, I said, hey, I want
to take the girls. And at the time, Billy Grace
was twenty one months old and Campbell was three months old,
And I said, I want to take away no him.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
It was Saturday morning and there was a little train
at the mall in Owensboro, Kentucky. Nothing spectacular, just to
loop for toddlers. But to Jason it was a moment
to reclaim time he'd missed with his kids. After spending
a fun morning together, their family drove home. Jason laid
his girls down for a nap. It was something he
loved and hadn't been able to do in far too long.
(02:23):
He closed the girl's bedroom door and kissed Jenny on
the cheek.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I told my wife, I said, I am going to
ride full whillers for a minute round the farm.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It was something he'd done more times than he could count.
How could he have suspected that this time would be different,
that this time, the familiar ride would end life as
he knew it. It was still early spring, so nothing
had been planted yet. The sun beam down onto the
dirt fields as Jason drove down the gravel road. He
(02:51):
had grown up on this farm. In fact, Jason knew
every inch of the twenty three hundred acres. Every turn,
every colvert, every gravel rut was etched in his muscle memory.
He could almost drive down this road with his ice shut.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
And I tell people, what's like being inside your home
at nighttime and you get up in the middle of
night to go.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Use the bathroom.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You don't have to turn the light switch on, you
know where everything is, you know where the dresses are,
you don't trip fall over anything. Well, I felt like
this around my whole farm, you know. I mean, I've
been around it millions of times.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Jason had grown up on the farm along with his
extended family, their houses next to each other. Jason's grandfather
had only lived a couple of houses away. Years before.
His grandfather had lost his arm in a corn picker accident,
but despite his disability, he'd always been a hero to Jason.
His grandfather had passed away just three months prior, and
(03:48):
Jason still missed him. There was a turn in the
gravel road just ahead, and Jason slowed his four wheeler.
He made his way around the corner and knew there
would be another turn coming up shortly.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
The second corner. I was going super slow.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I was kind of looking across the field and I
don't know, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention.
And the second corner, there's a covert right there. It's
the only place you can cross. And by the time
I turned and looked, I seen something and I didn't
know what it was at first. So I hit the
brake over a four wheeler and I slid into this line.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
A power line sacked down toward the road, unnaturally low.
This was something unexpected, something strange and out of place
on Jason's usual ride. Jason didn't register what it was
at first. You didn't have time to stop. He hit
the brakes, skidded, and the front rack of his four
wheelers struck the line. The power line bounced, then it
(04:44):
hit him in the chest, falling between his body and
the hambleburs. Panic swept through Jason as he stared down
at the power line, bracing f a jelt of voltage
to rip through him, but nothing happened. The line just
laid there, still silent. Jason heaped a big sigh of relief.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
So I looked to my left, and there's a guide
wire that holds a pole in the.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Air, so you know you got the wire.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
It hangs down where the wire had broke, so the
pole was leaning, so the two lines were swooping, and
the lowest point was where I was, which was about
thirty inches off the ground. And so I thought for
a minutes, like.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
What do I do?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Jason decided to lift the wire just high enough to
free it from his four wheeler. He slowly pulled the
line up back to the four wheeler, out from under it,
and then let it go. Jason wasn't sure what to
do with the power lane. He didn't want to just
leave it. He had a cousin who lived just across
the field, so he dialed his cousin's phone number on
his cell phone to see if his cousin could help
(05:47):
him figure it out.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I called him and I said, hey, I need you
to come down here. I said, there's a down power line.
I just hit it, so basically long and short. He
came down and he was behind me, and I was
explaining to him as like, this power line goes to
a field pump which pulls water out of the field
when it's planted. When March, nothing's planted, so you know,
first thing I thought was like, I wonder if the
(06:09):
power is shut off, like.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
It doesn't you know, it's not even hot. And so
I told my cousin.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I said, man, what I'm scared of is there's other
kids in the neighborhood riding full with her sometimes. And
I said, if somebody's running wide open and they don't
pay attention it was low enough, I was afraid somebody
would get decapitated, you know, they would hit the line.
And I said, man, I wish we could do something,
and I was basically turned around, looking at him behind
me and the power lines in front of me.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
We've all heard the warning to stay away from power lanes.
Power companies recommend you stay at least twenty five feet
away from them, but Jason had already touched this lane.
He was sure this one wasn't live. But Jason was wrong.
Jason raised his arm up in the air, explaining how
high he wished the powerlane was, and I.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
Just stuck my arm out, say this high.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
That's when the unthinkable occurred.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
The next thing I remember was a vibration going through
my body. I felt a vibration through all my bones,
and then everything went dark.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
It's unclear if Jason touched the line or if the
electricity jumped, but what we do know is the electricity
seeks ground. That's what it does, and in one fatal motion,
Jason had become its conduit. Seventy two hundred volts surged
through his body, stopping his heart. Instantly, he collapsed onto
(07:34):
the ground. The world went still, no breathing, no pulse,
no signs of life. His cousin screamed for help, but
then the impossible. It's hard to say for sure, but
either the force of the fall or the electric shock
restarted Jason's heart. Jason woke up in what felt like flames.
(07:55):
His body was searing with internal burns. Disoriented and desperate,
he tried to crawl into a ditch to cool himself.
His cousin pulled him back, trying to get him to life. Still,
Jason didn't know yet that his flesh was cooked from
the inside out. His kidney's already shutting down.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
So I immediately woke up. I felt like I was
on fire.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I was trying to climb down into a ditch to
cool off, and my cousin kept on pulling me out
of the ditch, and he had already called one of
my uncles, his dad.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
I seen him coming down in his truck.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And immediately, you know, obviously nine one was called. So
my cousin, Charlie, went to the front of the farm
to the road to show the amulets where I was, and.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
He immediately called my mom and dad.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
My mom answered the phone and Charlie was like, Donna,
Jason's been in a really bad accident. And my mom
was just like, Charlie, how bad isn't And Charlie wouldn't answer,
and Finally, my mom was just like, Charlie, is he
still alive?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And Charlie said, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
And my mom said, Charlie, is Genny Holme And Charlie
said yes.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
And my mom said it's Genny No, And.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Charlie said, no, I haven't told her.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I don't want to tell her.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Back at home, Jenny was working on a computer project.
In fact, she'd been working on the project for hours,
so when the power suddenly went out, she groaned in frustration,
unaware that the outage was caused by her husband's body
grounding an electric circuit. Oblivious to the fact that her
husband had just died and come back to life. An
(09:34):
ambulance raced across the field. Jason's mother called Jenny, whose
heart immediately pounded in terror.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
So she gets the phone call from my mom and
she comes across the field and she comes back to
where I was. She had no clue that I'd got electrocuted.
At this moment, they were already loading me in the ambulance.
Jenny climbed up in the ambulance with me, and on
the way to Owensboro, I was talking to her and
I just kept on telling her. I was like Genny,
(10:01):
Everything's gonna be okay. And I remember telling Jenny, I'm
gonna lose my thumb, and I told her over and
over and over on the way that ones were. I
was like, Papa lost his entire arm, Like I'm just
gonna lose my thumb, Like it's really not that big
of a deal. And I was trying to stay as
calm as I could.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
A thumb that was it. Jason was pretty sure of it. Again, however,
Jason was wrong. At the hospital, the er doctor was
beyond concerned.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
The doctor said, we got to get this kid out
of here, and I said, what do you mean? And
they said, you're either gonna go to the Louisville Hospital
to the burn unit, or you're gonna go to Vanderbilt Nashville, Tennessee.
And they said, we have a helicopter on the way
to come pick you up. So I remember the helicopter
coming and landing on top of the hospital, and I
remember getting in a hospital bed and they took me
(10:51):
up an elevator.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
The helicopter took off with Jason inside, staring up at
a nurse whose eyes also showed worry. He wasn't allowed
to ride with him. Jason looked out the window as
they flew over his house, men still working below to
clean up the down line. He watched them outside, unaware
of something far more urgent inside the helicopter. Inside his body,
(11:17):
Jason was dying. A nurse inserted a mainline into his
jugular then catheterized him, and Jason watched the urine bag
fill up. His urine was dark, Like doctor Pepper. Jason
didn't know why his urine was so dark, but it
was his kidney's failing, his blood flooding with toxins. He
(11:38):
was still burning from the inside out.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Jenny hurried up, got to Nashville, had to sign release
forms to do whatever. So she goes in this mercy
waiting room. Doctor walks down and basically says, I need
you to sign release forms to amputate whatever I have
to amputate, do a blood transfusion, and if you don't
do that in the next few minutes, your husband's going
to die because his kidneys are so far gone and
(12:04):
I still don't even know if this is going to
save his life.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Like I gotta go, like this is we gotta get started.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
With shaking hands, Jenny signed the release form and Jason
was put under anesthesia. The surgeon, doctor Jeffrey Guy, began
cutting first the right arm. It was incredibly damaged. Then
he opened up the left and found it shredded. Inside.
All ten tendons had snapped and coiled around Jason's wrist
(12:32):
like a grenade had gone off beneath the skin. His
neck and back were fractured. His kidneys teetered at the brink.
Doctor Guy placed Jason into an induced coma to give
his deteriorating body a fighting chance. As Jenny sat waiting,
helpless and afraid, she dropped to her knees and poured
(12:52):
out a desperate prayer to God for strength and a miracle.
Each day, for the next three days, surgeon's cut a
little more, removing charred flesh until the internal fire had passed.
As the doctors worked, they didn't know if Jason would
wake up at all. But on the third day, something shifted,
as if the prayers said for him cracked through the darkness.
(13:15):
Jason woke up. As his eyes flickered open, he didn't
recognize the room, the beeping heart monitor, the sterile still surfaces,
the weight of a bedstrap pressing down on his chest,
His eyes searched for Jenny, but she wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Jenny was at a hotel room.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So my mom and then my dad came in a room,
and basically, you know, I looked up at my dad
and I said, how bad is it? Because I mean,
I had no clue, you know, I had no idea
what was wrong with men. I was strapped down to
a bed so I couldn't see anything. And my dad,
basically the first thing he said was Jason, I don't
know how we're going to get through this, but he said,
we've always had faith, and one way or another, we're
(13:56):
going to get through this.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Jason blinked at his father, trying to comprehend his words,
and then his father dealt the final blow.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
But he said, in order to save your life, I
had to amptape both of the arms.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
The words rang in Jason's ears. At twenty nine years old,
Jason was now a double amputee. Both arms were gone,
removed just below the elbows and wrapped in thick bandages
where his hands had once been. The reality felt impossible
to comprehend. This wasn't how life was supposed to unfold.
(14:30):
Just weeks earlier, he'd been a happy father of two
little girls under two years old. His future laid out
in neat rows, like the farmland surrounding his home. Now
everything had changed. Would he even have a future at all?
How would he still be the father his daughter's needed?
How would he provide for his family? He knew his
(14:50):
grandfather had found a way to work with a prosthetic.
But two Jason went to sleep, overwhelmed by a future
that now felt so cloudy and unsure. Later, when he
woke again, he was moved to a hospital room where
he met his doctor.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Doctor Jeffrey Guy. He walks in my room and he
sits down with me, and he says, Jason, you're gonna
be in this hospital for months. And he said, but
while you're here, I want you to think of one
goal that you have in your life, and I want
to help you reach a goal. When we are successful
with one goal, then that's going to show you that
(15:28):
things were going to be possible later on. So he
stood up and he went to walk out of the room.
And I told him, I said, doctor Guy, I know
what I want. He said, how do you know what
you want?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Man?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Like you know you're twenty nine years old. I just
asked you this question, and like, what's on your mind,
you know? And I told him, I said, I don't
know how I'm gonna be able to address myself, feeding myself,
or do anything for myself.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
And I said, I don't know how my life's gonna change.
But I said, you know, here, I got a twenty
one month old little girl in a three month old
little girl at home. And I said it literally all
I care abouts holding them again. And that's it. He said,
when they get here, I'm gonna bring them.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
To your room.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
And it was the next day, I think, and he
came in.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
He said, hey, your kids are here, so I'm gonna
bring them in your room. And I said, and hope
you're not.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Hospital machines surrounded him, Tubes, monitors, and wires tethered to
every part of his body. Jason didn't want to see
his children for the first time as a patient. He
didn't want them to remember a hospital room or the
cold smell of antiseptic. He wanted them to remember his embrace,
(16:37):
and so, in defiance of pain, medical warnings, and reason,
Jason asked to be unhooked. The tubes and IV came
out the catheter followed. It was incredibly painful, but he
endured it all without sedation. With help, he was wheeled
into the waiting room. There he saw them, his precious angels.
(17:01):
Their smiles lit up the room. He wrapped what was
left of his arms around them as they nestled into
the curve of his torso. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't
what it had been, but it was everything to Jason.
He had accomplished his first goal. That single moment marked
the turning point. From that day forward, Jason chose faith
(17:25):
over defeat. The question wasn't why did this happen to me?
But instead what can I do next?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I remember asking doctor Guy, what's it gonna take me
get out of the hospital, and he was like, Jason, man,
you can't rush it. You know it's gonna be a while.
I told him, mysel want, I'm gonna do whatever it takes.
And I remember taking a leg yuard apart, you know,
like when you hurt your knee, and I duck taped
a fork at the end of it, and that's how
it started feeding myself.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Twelve days after his accident, just twelve Jason walked out
of the hospital both arms gone, but eyes forward. Back
at home in Owensboro, every task was a battle. Getting dressed, eating,
moving around the house. Jason treated each obstacle like a
challenge to outwit, rather than an excuse to surrender. However,
(18:15):
some of the challenges were completely unexpected. On one family,
outing to hobby lobby, Jason walked several aisles with his
eldest daughter while his wife shopped nearby with the baby. Jason,
who could now carry his toddler in the crook of
his arm stumps, watched her squirm down and run a
few steps ahead. All of a sudden, she turned back
(18:36):
with this smile, preparing to leap into his embrace.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
It's like slow motion. It's like a movie.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
You got this little girl, run until you fix and
jump in your arms, give you this big hug and
kiss like this is what life's about, you know. And
she got right to me and instead of jumping on
my arms, she grabbed me by my pants and she
pulled my pants down to my ankles. So I was
sitting there like, oh crap, Billy Grace. I had to
pull my pants up and she's not having it. So
I had to wabble three rows over to find my
(19:05):
wife to pull my pants up. And my wife was like, well,
that's really embarrassing, and I was like, you know, it's embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
That moment, both comical and deeply human, became yet another
reminder there was still so much to figure out, and
it provided Jason with a new goal. Learned to pull
his pants up by himself. While Jason was mastering many skills,
wife was still difficult for Jason and Jenny.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
You know, my wife would feed Billy Grace, and then
she'd feed Campbell, and then she'd feed me. My food
was cold, you know what I mean, But then she
feed herself, so I know her food was cold. And
then she would give both girls a bath, and then
she would give me a bath. And then Jenny was
just like, I just want to go to bed. I
don't even care if I take a bath. I mean,
(19:52):
she might have gone two or three days without taking
bath because she was just war out, you know. And
she had to quit her job because I couldn't be alone,
you know, and here I am not working, and people
in my community was like given to us and helping.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Us all the time.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Jason was so grateful for the support and prayers of
his community, but it seemed life would never feel normal again,
and not providing for his family was something Jason feared most.
Jason heard about robotic arms known as advanced bionic prosthetics.
They had a hefty price tag of one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars each, and insurance wouldn't cover them. They
(20:32):
weren't quote medically necessary. That phrase became his enemy. He
wasn't trying to replace his arms for vanity or comfort.
He needed them to be a father. Jason was discouraged,
but not defeated. He believed with those prosthetics he could
reclaim his purpose. So he prayed not for comfort, but
(20:54):
for the chance to stand on his own again, to serve,
to provide. He tracked down the very doctor who had
denied his claim and challenged him to come lip one
day in his shoes, hands tight behind his back, Try
getting dressed, Try turning a doorknob, Try scratching an itch.
(21:16):
Then see if the word necessary felt any different. Eventually,
the fight paid off. Jason became the first person in
the world to receive two bionic hans, and others started
taking notice.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I did an episode on a local news and after
it was over CNN called me and CNN was like, hey,
we saw your story.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
We want to share your story.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Can we And the next day, all day long, I
was on CNN and it.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Literally opened up a door for me that other.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Ampities profsted, this therapist, like all these people were calling
me and how do you use the hand?
Speaker 1 (21:54):
How did you get the hands? And I became this.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Spokesperson for Upper Limb because of that, and it was
people from all over the world, you know, and it's like, man,
I can make a difference, and I want to make
sure that other people go through this that.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
I'm here for, you know.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
One day, Jason received an unexpected phone call from a
woman in Hawaii. It turned out she was part of
a television production team. A new episode of Hawaii If
I Vote was in development, a reboot of the old
hook Man's storyline from the nineteen seventies. Once the producers
heard about Jason, they knew what they wanted for this
updated episode, a man with two real bionic hands. Jason
(22:34):
flew to Hawaii, stepped onto a film set for the
first time, and saw one of his heroes standing there.
Peter Weller, the original RoboCop, now cast to play a
character based on Jason. The scene required Jason to physically
press his body up to Weller's back, his bionic arm
extended beneath the actor's armpit, a weapon in hand.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Nobody said nothing so that, yeah, lay on top of
and put your O money his armpit. So I did,
and I got to laughing, and Peter Weller looked over
at me, and he goes, boy, what are you laughing about?
I said, man, I'm from Kentucky and you're the first
guy ever laid on top of. And I said, I
whisped like I could at least meet you first, you
know me, maybe it wouldn't be so awkward, but like
(23:19):
I just I've never laid on top of a god
for you know. And so he and I became really
really good friends.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
It was strange, surreal, hilarious, but somehow perfectly fitting. The
man who once duct taped a fork to a leg
brace was now standing in the Pacific sun, surrounded by
cameras giving movement to a fictional character built from his
own pain. He returned to Kentucky and tried to file
it away is just another strange chapter until his phone
(23:48):
rang again. This time it was Peter Weller himself. He
hadn't just played Jason on screen, he had been moved
by him off camera. He told Jason he'd called the
company that made his prosthetics if they wanted their name
in the show's credits. They were going to send Jason
the latest generation hand, no waiting, no red tape, and
(24:12):
they did. Jason became the first person in the world
a second time, now with an even more advanced pair
of bionic hands. That one gesture opened a new chapter,
one where he worked directly with the engineers behind the technology,
testing prototypes, giving feedback, even helping shape future models. They
(24:34):
flew him across the country. They watched him demonstrate techniques
no one else had mastered. By now, Jason had been
featured on CNN, AL Jazeera, Good Day Philadelphia, and in
major newspapers. He had filmed an Apple commercial that aired
during the Super Bowl. He'd appeared in a movie with
Matthew McConaughey, done commercials for MetLife and at Meant Health,
(24:57):
and taken stages across the country to share his story.
Peter Weller had visited Jason's hometown, where they put on
fundraisers for local charities. But even in the whirlwind of attention,
Jason had never forgotten where it all began or what
mattered most his family. When Jason had been in the
hospital after his accident, doctors told him he'd never have
(25:20):
another child. He had made peace with that, but the
news came quietly one day Jenny was pregnant. It didn't
feel like defying the odds. It felt like grace. On
the day their son, Axel, was born, Jason cradled him
in his bionic arms, a moment he'd never dared hope for.
This wasn't just another child, It was living proof that
(25:43):
what had been taken could never match what had been given.
There had been so much loss, so much pain. But
here in his hometown, surrounded by the same friends and
family who farmed soybeans and corn all around him, Jason
realized something quietly profound. The miracle wasn't just that he
had survived. The miracle was that everything broken had been
(26:07):
turned into something more, something greater than Jason had ever imagined.
The events of March first, two thousand and eight had
not just taken his arms. They had handed him a purpose.
They'd given him a platform to stand on, a way
to inspire and help others and a way to provide
for his family. Today, Jason speaks across the country. He
(26:31):
works with wounded veterans, athletes, engineers, and school children. He's
been invited onto tour buses, movie sets, and global broadcasts.
But he's still Jason from Owensborough. He still mows his
own lawn, he still drives his truck, and most importantly,
he's still holding on to the same things that mattered
(26:52):
before the accident ever happened, his wife, his children, and
his faith.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
My favorite verse is John thirteen seven, where he says
you may not understand now, but one day you will.
And that verse has always given me determination and hope
and not knowing what the future is going to look like,
but knowe that God's gonna.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Make it work out, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
And He has done that over and over and over,
And you know, I tell people all the time, it's
like God can open a door for you, and the
only person that can close that door is yourself.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Those words guided him through the darkest nights, when tubes
ran from his chest and nurses whispered at the door.
They reminded him day after day that meaning can come
not in spite of pain, but because of it. On
the day of Jason's accident, his heart stopped beating, but
that wasn't the end. Instead, it was only the beginning
(27:50):
of a new life, a life that touches thousands, a
life shaped by heroes past and present, a life still unfolding,
a life which was quite literally transformed by grace. Isn't
Jason the best I know? I love his outlook on
(28:13):
life and he is so funny. He did a Ted
talk where he was like, one of the benefits of
having no arms is I get to wear cool shirts
that say things like look, mom, no hands or don't
shoot I'm n armed.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Oh my gosh, she got a good attitude. Yeah, he
is hilarious and beyond his sense of humor, he just
has this incredible attitude that it makes me want to
be more positive about my own life and the things that.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I go through.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Right.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Yeah. I think it's also incredible that he had this
grandpa in his life who also didn't have a limb. Yeah,
because he was able to see an example of someone
who was able to still thrive and have a beautiful
life without a limb.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
Yeah. That stood out to me too, because it was
like God was preparing him in way is that he
couldn't have ever known, like, what are the odds of
having two amputees in one family.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
I know, it's like God was just you can see
his hand all throughout Jason's life. And I know there
will be people who say, well, God also allowed this
to happen to Jason. And the reality is God does
allow us to go through hard things. But to me,
it's like the refiner's fire, you know, like you look
at how beautiful of a life he has now because
(29:28):
of the hard things that he went through. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Well, and God saved his life too. Like, if you
think about it, the first time Jason came into contact
with that down wire, nothing happened, but that gave him time,
That gave him a chance to call his cousin to
come out there.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
If he'd been allegrocated the first time, yeah, yeah, there
would have been no one there to help him or
call name on one. He would be gone today, he
would not be here with us.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, you're right. The timing of it is just it's
part of what's so miraculous. I mean, obviously this is
a live wire that he's touching, and we learned after
the fact it had seventy two hundred volts of electricity
going through crazy. An interesting fact is an electric chair.
I mean it's designed differently obviously, but usually only has
about two thousand volts of electricity.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Yes, obviously literally clearly this could have killed me, right,
but miraculously it didn't. And we're so grateful that Jason
was willing to share his beautiful story with us. And
I'm so grateful he's still here with his beautiful family
as well. And if you want to learn more about
Jason's story, he actually wrote a book and I love
(30:35):
what he said about it, so let's hear what he
said himself.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
I decided to write a book of my journey, of
my story, and for a long time, it's like, what
do you call this book? And I ended up naming
it handed a Greater Purpose because I truly feel like
I was handed a greater purpose. And you know, sometimes
we go through bad things and bad situations or bad accidents,
and I think some people look back and they say why,
(30:58):
like why me?
Speaker 5 (31:00):
And I've never been that kind of guy.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
And I truly feel like every day I wake up
that God's like, man, I told you I had a
better plan for you, and you know, even to all
the pain and all the.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Stuff I went through, I mean it was worth it,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
I will never stop being inspired by this man. Yeah,
he's incredible.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
And I have to say God is incredible too, because
no matter what challenges we go through, God is still
good and He's still there for us, and he can
turn all of our sorrows into joy.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yes for sure. All right, Well, we want to thank
everyone for joining us today, and if you have enjoyed
this podcast, please share it with a friend, lead us
to review and help us so that we can continue
sharing more of God's amazing miracle stories.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
Thank you for joining us. If you have a miracle
to share, contact us at the Miracle files dot com
or find us on Facebook.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
We're now releasing multiple episodes each month. Subscribe on your
favorite podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content as well.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles,
and don't forget to look for His light in your
own lives
I told my wife.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I said, Hey, I'm going to ride full wheeler's for
a minute round the farm.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
The sunbeam down onto the dirt fields as Jason drove
down the gravel road. He made his way around the
corner and knew there would be another turn coming up shortly.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And by the time I turned and looked, I seen
something that I didn't know what it was at first.
So I hit the brake on my full wheeler and
I slid into this line.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
The power line bounced, then it hit him in the chest.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
The next thing I remember was a vibration going through
my body and then everything went dark.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
This is the Miracle Files. I'm Emily Jones.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
And I'm Holly Worthington. We're two sisters who love a
captivating true story, but we're also seeking more light in
our lives.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
So we're on a mission to find and share unforgettable,
uplifting stories of God's miracles. We hope you'll join us
on this journey. Welcome back to the Miracle Files. I
am so excited about this story today.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Yeah, this one is heart wrenching, but it's also so
cool in so many ways. And today's story is about
Jason Koger. He's from Kentucky. He's a father and author,
a public speaker, and he's just such a good guy
with an incredible story.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, what Jason and his family had to go through
is probably one of the darkest moments that I can imagine. Yeah,
but just pay attention to how his family comes through it.
It's really powerful.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Okay, let's just jump in, all right, let's go. It
was March two thousand and eight, and it was also
Jason Coger's first weekend off after working weeks of twelve
hour shifts. He couldn't wait to spend some time with
his wife, Jenny, and their two daughters.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And I told my wife, I said, hey, I want
to take the girls. And at the time, Billy Grace
was twenty one months old and Campbell was three months old,
And I said, I want to take away no him.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
It was Saturday morning and there was a little train
at the mall in Owensboro, Kentucky. Nothing spectacular, just to
loop for toddlers. But to Jason it was a moment
to reclaim time he'd missed with his kids. After spending
a fun morning together, their family drove home. Jason laid
his girls down for a nap. It was something he
loved and hadn't been able to do in far too long.
(02:23):
He closed the girl's bedroom door and kissed Jenny on
the cheek.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I told my wife, I said, I am going to
ride full whillers for a minute round the farm.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It was something he'd done more times than he could count.
How could he have suspected that this time would be different,
that this time, the familiar ride would end life as
he knew it. It was still early spring, so nothing
had been planted yet. The sun beam down onto the
dirt fields as Jason drove down the gravel road. He
(02:51):
had grown up on this farm. In fact, Jason knew
every inch of the twenty three hundred acres. Every turn,
every colvert, every gravel rut was etched in his muscle memory.
He could almost drive down this road with his ice shut.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
And I tell people, what's like being inside your home
at nighttime and you get up in the middle of
night to go.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Use the bathroom.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You don't have to turn the light switch on, you
know where everything is, you know where the dresses are,
you don't trip fall over anything. Well, I felt like
this around my whole farm, you know. I mean, I've
been around it millions of times.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Jason had grown up on the farm along with his
extended family, their houses next to each other. Jason's grandfather
had only lived a couple of houses away. Years before.
His grandfather had lost his arm in a corn picker accident,
but despite his disability, he'd always been a hero to Jason.
His grandfather had passed away just three months prior, and
(03:48):
Jason still missed him. There was a turn in the
gravel road just ahead, and Jason slowed his four wheeler.
He made his way around the corner and knew there
would be another turn coming up shortly.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
The second corner. I was going super slow.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I was kind of looking across the field and I
don't know, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention.
And the second corner, there's a covert right there. It's
the only place you can cross. And by the time
I turned and looked, I seen something and I didn't
know what it was at first. So I hit the
brake over a four wheeler and I slid into this line.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
A power line sacked down toward the road, unnaturally low.
This was something unexpected, something strange and out of place
on Jason's usual ride. Jason didn't register what it was
at first. You didn't have time to stop. He hit
the brakes, skidded, and the front rack of his four
wheelers struck the line. The power line bounced, then it
(04:44):
hit him in the chest, falling between his body and
the hambleburs. Panic swept through Jason as he stared down
at the power line, bracing f a jelt of voltage
to rip through him, but nothing happened. The line just
laid there, still silent. Jason heaped a big sigh of relief.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
So I looked to my left, and there's a guide
wire that holds a pole in the.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Air, so you know you got the wire.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
It hangs down where the wire had broke, so the
pole was leaning, so the two lines were swooping, and
the lowest point was where I was, which was about
thirty inches off the ground. And so I thought for
a minutes, like.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
What do I do?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Jason decided to lift the wire just high enough to
free it from his four wheeler. He slowly pulled the
line up back to the four wheeler, out from under it,
and then let it go. Jason wasn't sure what to
do with the power lane. He didn't want to just
leave it. He had a cousin who lived just across
the field, so he dialed his cousin's phone number on
his cell phone to see if his cousin could help
(05:47):
him figure it out.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I called him and I said, hey, I need you
to come down here. I said, there's a down power line.
I just hit it, so basically long and short. He
came down and he was behind me, and I was
explaining to him as like, this power line goes to
a field pump which pulls water out of the field
when it's planted. When March, nothing's planted, so you know,
first thing I thought was like, I wonder if the
(06:09):
power is shut off, like.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
It doesn't you know, it's not even hot. And so
I told my cousin.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I said, man, what I'm scared of is there's other
kids in the neighborhood riding full with her sometimes. And
I said, if somebody's running wide open and they don't
pay attention it was low enough, I was afraid somebody
would get decapitated, you know, they would hit the line.
And I said, man, I wish we could do something,
and I was basically turned around, looking at him behind
me and the power lines in front of me.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
We've all heard the warning to stay away from power lanes.
Power companies recommend you stay at least twenty five feet
away from them, but Jason had already touched this lane.
He was sure this one wasn't live. But Jason was wrong.
Jason raised his arm up in the air, explaining how
high he wished the powerlane was, and I.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
Just stuck my arm out, say this high.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
That's when the unthinkable occurred.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
The next thing I remember was a vibration going through
my body. I felt a vibration through all my bones,
and then everything went dark.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
It's unclear if Jason touched the line or if the
electricity jumped, but what we do know is the electricity
seeks ground. That's what it does, and in one fatal motion,
Jason had become its conduit. Seventy two hundred volts surged
through his body, stopping his heart. Instantly, he collapsed onto
(07:34):
the ground. The world went still, no breathing, no pulse,
no signs of life. His cousin screamed for help, but
then the impossible. It's hard to say for sure, but
either the force of the fall or the electric shock
restarted Jason's heart. Jason woke up in what felt like flames.
(07:55):
His body was searing with internal burns. Disoriented and desperate,
he tried to crawl into a ditch to cool himself.
His cousin pulled him back, trying to get him to life. Still,
Jason didn't know yet that his flesh was cooked from
the inside out. His kidney's already shutting down.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
So I immediately woke up. I felt like I was
on fire.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I was trying to climb down into a ditch to
cool off, and my cousin kept on pulling me out
of the ditch, and he had already called one of
my uncles, his dad.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
I seen him coming down in his truck.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And immediately, you know, obviously nine one was called. So
my cousin, Charlie, went to the front of the farm
to the road to show the amulets where I was, and.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
He immediately called my mom and dad.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
My mom answered the phone and Charlie was like, Donna,
Jason's been in a really bad accident. And my mom
was just like, Charlie, how bad isn't And Charlie wouldn't answer,
and Finally, my mom was just like, Charlie, is he
still alive?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And Charlie said, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
And my mom said, Charlie, is Genny Holme And Charlie
said yes.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
And my mom said it's Genny No, And.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Charlie said, no, I haven't told her.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I don't want to tell her.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Back at home, Jenny was working on a computer project.
In fact, she'd been working on the project for hours,
so when the power suddenly went out, she groaned in frustration,
unaware that the outage was caused by her husband's body
grounding an electric circuit. Oblivious to the fact that her
husband had just died and come back to life. An
(09:34):
ambulance raced across the field. Jason's mother called Jenny, whose
heart immediately pounded in terror.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
So she gets the phone call from my mom and
she comes across the field and she comes back to
where I was. She had no clue that I'd got electrocuted.
At this moment, they were already loading me in the ambulance.
Jenny climbed up in the ambulance with me, and on
the way to Owensboro, I was talking to her and
I just kept on telling her. I was like Genny,
(10:01):
Everything's gonna be okay. And I remember telling Jenny, I'm
gonna lose my thumb, and I told her over and
over and over on the way that ones were. I
was like, Papa lost his entire arm, Like I'm just
gonna lose my thumb, Like it's really not that big
of a deal. And I was trying to stay as
calm as I could.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
A thumb that was it. Jason was pretty sure of it. Again, however,
Jason was wrong. At the hospital, the er doctor was
beyond concerned.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
The doctor said, we got to get this kid out
of here, and I said, what do you mean? And
they said, you're either gonna go to the Louisville Hospital
to the burn unit, or you're gonna go to Vanderbilt Nashville, Tennessee.
And they said, we have a helicopter on the way
to come pick you up. So I remember the helicopter
coming and landing on top of the hospital, and I
remember getting in a hospital bed and they took me
(10:51):
up an elevator.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
The helicopter took off with Jason inside, staring up at
a nurse whose eyes also showed worry. He wasn't allowed
to ride with him. Jason looked out the window as
they flew over his house, men still working below to
clean up the down line. He watched them outside, unaware
of something far more urgent inside the helicopter. Inside his body,
(11:17):
Jason was dying. A nurse inserted a mainline into his
jugular then catheterized him, and Jason watched the urine bag
fill up. His urine was dark, Like doctor Pepper. Jason
didn't know why his urine was so dark, but it
was his kidney's failing, his blood flooding with toxins. He
(11:38):
was still burning from the inside out.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Jenny hurried up, got to Nashville, had to sign release
forms to do whatever. So she goes in this mercy
waiting room. Doctor walks down and basically says, I need
you to sign release forms to amputate whatever I have
to amputate, do a blood transfusion, and if you don't
do that in the next few minutes, your husband's going
to die because his kidneys are so far gone and
(12:04):
I still don't even know if this is going to
save his life.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Like I gotta go, like this is we gotta get started.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
With shaking hands, Jenny signed the release form and Jason
was put under anesthesia. The surgeon, doctor Jeffrey Guy, began
cutting first the right arm. It was incredibly damaged. Then
he opened up the left and found it shredded. Inside.
All ten tendons had snapped and coiled around Jason's wrist
(12:32):
like a grenade had gone off beneath the skin. His
neck and back were fractured. His kidneys teetered at the brink.
Doctor Guy placed Jason into an induced coma to give
his deteriorating body a fighting chance. As Jenny sat waiting,
helpless and afraid, she dropped to her knees and poured
(12:52):
out a desperate prayer to God for strength and a miracle.
Each day, for the next three days, surgeon's cut a
little more, removing charred flesh until the internal fire had passed.
As the doctors worked, they didn't know if Jason would
wake up at all. But on the third day, something shifted,
as if the prayers said for him cracked through the darkness.
(13:15):
Jason woke up. As his eyes flickered open, he didn't
recognize the room, the beeping heart monitor, the sterile still surfaces,
the weight of a bedstrap pressing down on his chest,
His eyes searched for Jenny, but she wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Jenny was at a hotel room.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So my mom and then my dad came in a room,
and basically, you know, I looked up at my dad
and I said, how bad is it? Because I mean,
I had no clue, you know, I had no idea
what was wrong with men. I was strapped down to
a bed so I couldn't see anything. And my dad,
basically the first thing he said was Jason, I don't
know how we're going to get through this, but he said,
we've always had faith, and one way or another, we're
(13:56):
going to get through this.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Jason blinked at his father, trying to comprehend his words,
and then his father dealt the final blow.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
But he said, in order to save your life, I
had to amptape both of the arms.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
The words rang in Jason's ears. At twenty nine years old,
Jason was now a double amputee. Both arms were gone,
removed just below the elbows and wrapped in thick bandages
where his hands had once been. The reality felt impossible
to comprehend. This wasn't how life was supposed to unfold.
(14:30):
Just weeks earlier, he'd been a happy father of two
little girls under two years old. His future laid out
in neat rows, like the farmland surrounding his home. Now
everything had changed. Would he even have a future at all?
How would he still be the father his daughter's needed?
How would he provide for his family? He knew his
(14:50):
grandfather had found a way to work with a prosthetic.
But two Jason went to sleep, overwhelmed by a future
that now felt so cloudy and unsure. Later, when he
woke again, he was moved to a hospital room where
he met his doctor.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Doctor Jeffrey Guy. He walks in my room and he
sits down with me, and he says, Jason, you're gonna
be in this hospital for months. And he said, but
while you're here, I want you to think of one
goal that you have in your life, and I want
to help you reach a goal. When we are successful
with one goal, then that's going to show you that
(15:28):
things were going to be possible later on. So he
stood up and he went to walk out of the room.
And I told him, I said, doctor Guy, I know
what I want. He said, how do you know what
you want?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Man?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Like you know you're twenty nine years old. I just
asked you this question, and like, what's on your mind,
you know? And I told him, I said, I don't
know how I'm gonna be able to address myself, feeding myself,
or do anything for myself.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
And I said, I don't know how my life's gonna change.
But I said, you know, here, I got a twenty
one month old little girl in a three month old
little girl at home. And I said it literally all
I care abouts holding them again. And that's it. He said,
when they get here, I'm gonna bring them.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
To your room.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
And it was the next day, I think, and he
came in.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
He said, hey, your kids are here, so I'm gonna
bring them in your room. And I said, and hope
you're not.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Hospital machines surrounded him, Tubes, monitors, and wires tethered to
every part of his body. Jason didn't want to see
his children for the first time as a patient. He
didn't want them to remember a hospital room or the
cold smell of antiseptic. He wanted them to remember his embrace,
(16:37):
and so, in defiance of pain, medical warnings, and reason,
Jason asked to be unhooked. The tubes and IV came
out the catheter followed. It was incredibly painful, but he
endured it all without sedation. With help, he was wheeled
into the waiting room. There he saw them, his precious angels.
(17:01):
Their smiles lit up the room. He wrapped what was
left of his arms around them as they nestled into
the curve of his torso. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't
what it had been, but it was everything to Jason.
He had accomplished his first goal. That single moment marked
the turning point. From that day forward, Jason chose faith
(17:25):
over defeat. The question wasn't why did this happen to me?
But instead what can I do next?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I remember asking doctor Guy, what's it gonna take me
get out of the hospital, and he was like, Jason, man,
you can't rush it. You know it's gonna be a while.
I told him, mysel want, I'm gonna do whatever it takes.
And I remember taking a leg yuard apart, you know,
like when you hurt your knee, and I duck taped
a fork at the end of it, and that's how
it started feeding myself.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Twelve days after his accident, just twelve Jason walked out
of the hospital both arms gone, but eyes forward. Back
at home in Owensboro, every task was a battle. Getting dressed, eating,
moving around the house. Jason treated each obstacle like a
challenge to outwit, rather than an excuse to surrender. However,
(18:15):
some of the challenges were completely unexpected. On one family,
outing to hobby lobby, Jason walked several aisles with his
eldest daughter while his wife shopped nearby with the baby. Jason,
who could now carry his toddler in the crook of
his arm stumps, watched her squirm down and run a
few steps ahead. All of a sudden, she turned back
(18:36):
with this smile, preparing to leap into his embrace.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
It's like slow motion. It's like a movie.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
You got this little girl, run until you fix and
jump in your arms, give you this big hug and
kiss like this is what life's about, you know. And
she got right to me and instead of jumping on
my arms, she grabbed me by my pants and she
pulled my pants down to my ankles. So I was
sitting there like, oh crap, Billy Grace. I had to
pull my pants up and she's not having it. So
I had to wabble three rows over to find my
(19:05):
wife to pull my pants up. And my wife was like, well,
that's really embarrassing, and I was like, you know, it's embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
That moment, both comical and deeply human, became yet another
reminder there was still so much to figure out, and
it provided Jason with a new goal. Learned to pull
his pants up by himself. While Jason was mastering many skills,
wife was still difficult for Jason and Jenny.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
You know, my wife would feed Billy Grace, and then
she'd feed Campbell, and then she'd feed me. My food
was cold, you know what I mean, But then she
feed herself, so I know her food was cold. And
then she would give both girls a bath, and then
she would give me a bath. And then Jenny was
just like, I just want to go to bed. I
don't even care if I take a bath. I mean,
(19:52):
she might have gone two or three days without taking
bath because she was just war out, you know. And
she had to quit her job because I couldn't be alone,
you know, and here I am not working, and people
in my community was like given to us and helping.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Us all the time.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Jason was so grateful for the support and prayers of
his community, but it seemed life would never feel normal again,
and not providing for his family was something Jason feared most.
Jason heard about robotic arms known as advanced bionic prosthetics.
They had a hefty price tag of one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars each, and insurance wouldn't cover them. They
(20:32):
weren't quote medically necessary. That phrase became his enemy. He
wasn't trying to replace his arms for vanity or comfort.
He needed them to be a father. Jason was discouraged,
but not defeated. He believed with those prosthetics he could
reclaim his purpose. So he prayed not for comfort, but
(20:54):
for the chance to stand on his own again, to serve,
to provide. He tracked down the very doctor who had
denied his claim and challenged him to come lip one
day in his shoes, hands tight behind his back, Try
getting dressed, Try turning a doorknob, Try scratching an itch.
(21:16):
Then see if the word necessary felt any different. Eventually,
the fight paid off. Jason became the first person in
the world to receive two bionic hans, and others started
taking notice.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I did an episode on a local news and after
it was over CNN called me and CNN was like, hey,
we saw your story.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
We want to share your story.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Can we And the next day, all day long, I
was on CNN and it.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Literally opened up a door for me that other.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Ampities profsted, this therapist, like all these people were calling
me and how do you use the hand?
Speaker 1 (21:54):
How did you get the hands? And I became this.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Spokesperson for Upper Limb because of that, and it was
people from all over the world, you know, and it's like, man,
I can make a difference, and I want to make
sure that other people go through this that.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
I'm here for, you know.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
One day, Jason received an unexpected phone call from a
woman in Hawaii. It turned out she was part of
a television production team. A new episode of Hawaii If
I Vote was in development, a reboot of the old
hook Man's storyline from the nineteen seventies. Once the producers
heard about Jason, they knew what they wanted for this
updated episode, a man with two real bionic hands. Jason
(22:34):
flew to Hawaii, stepped onto a film set for the
first time, and saw one of his heroes standing there.
Peter Weller, the original RoboCop, now cast to play a
character based on Jason. The scene required Jason to physically
press his body up to Weller's back, his bionic arm
extended beneath the actor's armpit, a weapon in hand.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Nobody said nothing so that, yeah, lay on top of
and put your O money his armpit. So I did,
and I got to laughing, and Peter Weller looked over
at me, and he goes, boy, what are you laughing about?
I said, man, I'm from Kentucky and you're the first
guy ever laid on top of. And I said, I
whisped like I could at least meet you first, you
know me, maybe it wouldn't be so awkward, but like
(23:19):
I just I've never laid on top of a god
for you know. And so he and I became really
really good friends.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
It was strange, surreal, hilarious, but somehow perfectly fitting. The
man who once duct taped a fork to a leg
brace was now standing in the Pacific sun, surrounded by
cameras giving movement to a fictional character built from his
own pain. He returned to Kentucky and tried to file
it away is just another strange chapter until his phone
(23:48):
rang again. This time it was Peter Weller himself. He
hadn't just played Jason on screen, he had been moved
by him off camera. He told Jason he'd called the
company that made his prosthetics if they wanted their name
in the show's credits. They were going to send Jason
the latest generation hand, no waiting, no red tape, and
(24:12):
they did. Jason became the first person in the world
a second time, now with an even more advanced pair
of bionic hands. That one gesture opened a new chapter,
one where he worked directly with the engineers behind the technology,
testing prototypes, giving feedback, even helping shape future models. They
(24:34):
flew him across the country. They watched him demonstrate techniques
no one else had mastered. By now, Jason had been
featured on CNN, AL Jazeera, Good Day Philadelphia, and in
major newspapers. He had filmed an Apple commercial that aired
during the Super Bowl. He'd appeared in a movie with
Matthew McConaughey, done commercials for MetLife and at Meant Health,
(24:57):
and taken stages across the country to share his story.
Peter Weller had visited Jason's hometown, where they put on
fundraisers for local charities. But even in the whirlwind of attention,
Jason had never forgotten where it all began or what
mattered most his family. When Jason had been in the
hospital after his accident, doctors told him he'd never have
(25:20):
another child. He had made peace with that, but the
news came quietly one day Jenny was pregnant. It didn't
feel like defying the odds. It felt like grace. On
the day their son, Axel, was born, Jason cradled him
in his bionic arms, a moment he'd never dared hope for.
This wasn't just another child, It was living proof that
(25:43):
what had been taken could never match what had been given.
There had been so much loss, so much pain. But
here in his hometown, surrounded by the same friends and
family who farmed soybeans and corn all around him, Jason
realized something quietly profound. The miracle wasn't just that he
had survived. The miracle was that everything broken had been
(26:07):
turned into something more, something greater than Jason had ever imagined.
The events of March first, two thousand and eight had
not just taken his arms. They had handed him a purpose.
They'd given him a platform to stand on, a way
to inspire and help others and a way to provide
for his family. Today, Jason speaks across the country. He
(26:31):
works with wounded veterans, athletes, engineers, and school children. He's
been invited onto tour buses, movie sets, and global broadcasts.
But he's still Jason from Owensborough. He still mows his
own lawn, he still drives his truck, and most importantly,
he's still holding on to the same things that mattered
(26:52):
before the accident ever happened, his wife, his children, and
his faith.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
My favorite verse is John thirteen seven, where he says
you may not understand now, but one day you will.
And that verse has always given me determination and hope
and not knowing what the future is going to look like,
but knowe that God's gonna.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Make it work out, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
And He has done that over and over and over,
And you know, I tell people all the time, it's
like God can open a door for you, and the
only person that can close that door is yourself.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Those words guided him through the darkest nights, when tubes
ran from his chest and nurses whispered at the door.
They reminded him day after day that meaning can come
not in spite of pain, but because of it. On
the day of Jason's accident, his heart stopped beating, but
that wasn't the end. Instead, it was only the beginning
(27:50):
of a new life, a life that touches thousands, a
life shaped by heroes past and present, a life still unfolding,
a life which was quite literally transformed by grace. Isn't
Jason the best I know? I love his outlook on
(28:13):
life and he is so funny. He did a Ted
talk where he was like, one of the benefits of
having no arms is I get to wear cool shirts
that say things like look, mom, no hands or don't
shoot I'm n armed.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Oh my gosh, she got a good attitude. Yeah, he
is hilarious and beyond his sense of humor, he just
has this incredible attitude that it makes me want to
be more positive about my own life and the things that.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I go through.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Right.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Yeah. I think it's also incredible that he had this
grandpa in his life who also didn't have a limb. Yeah,
because he was able to see an example of someone
who was able to still thrive and have a beautiful
life without a limb.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
Yeah. That stood out to me too, because it was
like God was preparing him in way is that he
couldn't have ever known, like, what are the odds of
having two amputees in one family.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
I know, it's like God was just you can see
his hand all throughout Jason's life. And I know there
will be people who say, well, God also allowed this
to happen to Jason. And the reality is God does
allow us to go through hard things. But to me,
it's like the refiner's fire, you know, like you look
at how beautiful of a life he has now because
(29:28):
of the hard things that he went through. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Well, and God saved his life too. Like, if you
think about it, the first time Jason came into contact
with that down wire, nothing happened, but that gave him time,
That gave him a chance to call his cousin to
come out there.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
If he'd been allegrocated the first time, yeah, yeah, there
would have been no one there to help him or
call name on one. He would be gone today, he
would not be here with us.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, you're right. The timing of it is just it's
part of what's so miraculous. I mean, obviously this is
a live wire that he's touching, and we learned after
the fact it had seventy two hundred volts of electricity
going through crazy. An interesting fact is an electric chair.
I mean it's designed differently obviously, but usually only has
about two thousand volts of electricity.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Yes, obviously literally clearly this could have killed me, right,
but miraculously it didn't. And we're so grateful that Jason
was willing to share his beautiful story with us. And
I'm so grateful he's still here with his beautiful family
as well. And if you want to learn more about
Jason's story, he actually wrote a book and I love
(30:35):
what he said about it, so let's hear what he
said himself.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
I decided to write a book of my journey, of
my story, and for a long time, it's like, what
do you call this book? And I ended up naming
it handed a Greater Purpose because I truly feel like
I was handed a greater purpose. And you know, sometimes
we go through bad things and bad situations or bad accidents,
and I think some people look back and they say why,
(30:58):
like why me?
Speaker 5 (31:00):
And I've never been that kind of guy.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
And I truly feel like every day I wake up
that God's like, man, I told you I had a
better plan for you, and you know, even to all
the pain and all the.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Stuff I went through, I mean it was worth it,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
I will never stop being inspired by this man. Yeah,
he's incredible.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
And I have to say God is incredible too, because
no matter what challenges we go through, God is still
good and He's still there for us, and he can
turn all of our sorrows into joy.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yes for sure. All right, Well, we want to thank
everyone for joining us today, and if you have enjoyed
this podcast, please share it with a friend, lead us
to review and help us so that we can continue
sharing more of God's amazing miracle stories.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
Thank you for joining us. If you have a miracle
to share, contact us at the Miracle files dot com
or find us on Facebook.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
We're now releasing multiple episodes each month. Subscribe on your
favorite podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content as well.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles,
and don't forget to look for His light in your
own lives
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