March 1st 2008 was the day that I was tested with my faith.  I live right outside of Owensboro Kentucky on a family farm.  My grandfather farmed around 2k acres so we have room to run.  This day was the first warm day of the year and I decided to take a ride on my ATV, but not before I laid my 21 month and 3 month old daughters down for a nap.  That ride I came in contact with a down power line taking 7200 volts.  I was unconscious for about 30 seconds but woke in pain.  I remember seeing my left thumb barely hanging and the first thought was what my grandfather lived through.  When he was my age he was in a farming accident where he lost his left arm. Nothing he went through slowed him down.  My grandfather passed away a few months before this day.  I remember telling everyone around me that I am going to lose my thumb but my grandfather lost his whole arm so everything will be fine.  I didn’t realize the burns I had from the electricity that went through my body and my internal organs were shutting down.  I was flown to Nashville, TN to the burn unit where I was placed in a induced coma.  Three days later I wake up as a bilateral arm amputee.  

Waking up to the news was hard, but in my mind all I could think about were my two daughters. Twelve days later, against all predictions, I was released and going home. I felt like I was the second person in the world to lose an arm and first to lose two because I had never seen anyone like me. My wife started to look into prosthetics and the first thing she found were the Touch Bionic i-limbs.  I wanted these because I wanted to be the same dad I was.  I wanted to hold my daughters hand to cross the road. I was denied several times through insurance, but eventually was told yes. I became the first in the world with 2 bionic hands.   

My journey to live the best life I could was starting to begin.  I prayed and told God whatever road he needs me to follow I would without looking behind me.  I wanted to be the best user in the world which I didn’t think I had much competition.  Ever day I went to my garage and tried everything you can try.  I failed at everything I tried many times but I did not quit.  After some time and hard work I started to succeed.  My hard work and dedication to want to be the best I could be started to get noticed.  I have been on national news, magazine’s, episodes on Hawaii 50, Apple Commercial, movies.  I became the first ambassador for Touch Bionics.  Once Össur acquired Touch I became a part of the Össur family.  I am currently wearing the 5th generation hand. I have had the opportunity to be one of the first users for each previous generation.