CNN Heroes will host a celebratory rally to show support for Chattanooga resident Jordan Thomas on Friday. The rally will feature performances by the McCallie Upper School’s marching band and cheerleaders and more than 500 hundred attendees, including 400 students from McCallie Upper School and 100 students from the St Nicholas school. The rally is set for 11:30 a.m. at The Hunter Museum of Art at 10 Bluff View, Chattanooga, TN 37403.
Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield and Hamilton Mayor Claude Ramsey will also be on-hand to deliver a proclamation. Mr. Thomas was chosen from over 9,000 submissions from 100 countries as one of the Top 10 CNN HEROES, which spotlights everyday citizens accomplishing extraordinary deeds, for his work with the Jordan Thomas Foundation, which has raised more than $400,000 to provide prosthetics for children in need.
Mr. Thomas will be awarded $25,000 and is eligible for the $100,000 award that will be bestowed upon the CNN HERO OF THE YEAR later this month at a gala in Hollywood. The public will select the CNN HERO OF THE YEAR via voting at the CNN Heroes site at www.CNN.com/Heroes through Nov. 18. Hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and taped at the famed Kodak Theatre, CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE will air on Thanksgiving at 9 p.m.
An annual family boating trip to the Florida Keys took a bloody and life-changing turn for Jordan Thomas, who was 16 during the trip. When he jumped into the water, the boat’s wake dragged Thomas hard into sharp, whirling propellers. His father and mother, both doctors, jumped into action.
Mr. Thomas was rushed to a hospital where he spent the next two weeks undergoing several surgeries on what was left of his legs. Mr. Thomas was fit with a top-of-the-line prosthetic, and, with a financially stable family, he knew he would always be able to afford good legs. But he learned this was not the case for other amputees, especially since most insurance companies will not cover the full cost of prosthetics.
The teenager launched the Jordan Thomas Foundation which has raised more than $400,000 for prosthetics through bracelets, charity gold tournaments and cookouts.