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Today I am interviewing a man from Colorado who almost lost his life a few years before turning 50, and it caused his life to go in a completely different direction since then.
Jason Dennen loved to go skydiving. The excitement of jumping out of a plane and feeling the wind on his face as he floated to earth created an adrenaline rush that was hard to beat.
In June 2018, with 3.5 years of experience behind him, Jason was making one of several jumps that day. Like all the other jumps he enjoyed, everything was going smoothly until a sudden gust of wind grabbed his parachute when he was 150 feet off the ground.
As soon as he realized he would crash, Jason knew his life was going to change forever.
The wind pushed him forward into a wire fence, which quickly gave way. But the metal aircraft hangar building 10 feet behind the fence wasn’t so flexible. Jason slammed into the side traveling about 30 miles per hour. The impact shattered 11 ribs, and 10 other bones, then shifted the pericardial sack which held his heart in place to the right side of his chest. Three other major organs were also damaged.
He survived the trip to the hospital where Jason spent eight days in a coma. When he emerged, he was told he might never do many of the things he loved to do again. Yet, on the first anniversary of his accident, Jason ran a triathlon.
Today, he continues to work in the financial services industry, but he also does public speaking and wrote a book about his experience.
Prior to the accident, Jason was working 70 to 80 hours per week. After the brush with death, he has reprioritized his life so he can be more involved and present in the lives of people he loves. The accident taught him what was truly the most important aspect of his life.
Jason wrote a book about his experience, which is titled “8 Days Till Sunrise.” In it, he recalls what it felt like to be in a coma and then to come out of it with a renewed appreciation for life itself. He had a lot of time to think when he was immobilized for months of rehabilitation.
After he was told he would never run again, Jason set out to prove his doctors wrong. He started regaining his strength by running, bicycling and swimming until he could complete a triathlon on the anniversary of the accident.
Today, Jason finds purpose to his life by helping people realize how much purpose their own lives can have on the people around them. He shows people how strong they really are.
By sharing his own doubts and insecurities with others, he found people opening up to him about their own insecurities and self-imposed limitations.
Rather than feel sorry for himself in thinking his life was over, Jason intentionally found something small to do each day. Over time, he built stamina to embrace what he knew would be real challenges – running triathlons and mountain climbing.
The process he used to train his mind and body to race again can be applied to any big challenges people face. They are unable to do much on Day One. But, after months of taking little steps and gradually doing more, people find they can do things they never imagined.
Awakening from the coma proved to Jason that God had saved him for a reason. Therefore, he needed to embrace that purpose and carry out what he perceived to be his second-chance mission.
You can read Jason’s full story in his book, “8 Days Till Sunrise,” which is available on Amazon and in other bookstores.
People can connect with Jason through his website at www.jasondennen.com, by email at JasonDennentheHealer@gmail.com or on Instagram and Facebook.
That’s all I have for this week’s show. If you’d like help in identifying a purpose for your life or to get help planning your next steps, I’m offering a complimentary brainstorming session to members of the Forward From 50 Facebook community. For details, connect with me on Facebook or visit www.forwardfrom50.com.
I’ll have another inspirational interview on the next episode of the Forward From 50 podcast. Thanks for listening. If you like this show, please consider leaving a review wherever you download the episodes.
If you order Jason’s book by using a link above, Forward From 50 may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.