On July 7th, 2012, Thomas dove off a friend’s pontoon boat on a small lake in Northern Wisconsin and hit his head on a tree stump on a sand bar and shattered his c5 vertebrae into his spinal cord. Thomas was immediately paralyzed.

The effect on Thomas’ function is pretty typical of a c5 – paralyzed below the chest, no finger function or wrist extension but he does have full wrist flexion, which is what allows him to live independently and use a manual chair.