Amazing Americans with Jerry Schemmel: Recent Episodes
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He is two time Olmpic Gold Medalist and a man many consider the best Freestyle Skier in American history. But the road to Olympic Glory has not been an easy one, as he negotiated a series of near tragic events. But he refused to let any of them deter him - or even slow him down.
The incomparable David Wise is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
He experienced every parent's nightmare when his precious daughter Rachel was murdered in the Columbine High School shootings. He has spent the last 20 years not only keeping the memory of his daughter alive but doing all he can to make sure other parents don't go through the same.
Darrell Scott is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
Amazing Americans can be heard each Sunday in Denver at 8:00 AM on 850 KOA and 7:00 PM on Freedom 93.7
He lost his left leg, just below the knee, in a farming accident, when he was eight years old. For many years after, the disability slowed him down. Then one day he was invited to play wheelchair basketball. He loved it, thrived in it and eventually became the best U.S, player in history. That led to triathlons. Which led to mountain climbing. Which led to Jeff Glassbrunner becoming the first American amputee to scale Mount Everest. And he's not done conquering!
He took the unlikeliest of athletic paths. He was born in Iran, where his father worked for The Shah, until that government was overthrown. At age three, he and his family moved to the U.S. He fell in love with sports and eventually found himself playing Division I football at Colorado State. He renounced his Muslim religion and today, among other things, he is the chaplain for the Denver Broncos.
Reza Zadeh tells his incredible story this week on Amazing Americans.
Amazing Americans can be heard each Sunday on KOA Radio at 7:00 AM and on Freedom 93.7 at 7:00 PM.
When she was four years old and stricken with cancer, Alex Scott wanted to do a lemonade stand to raise money for child cancer research. When that first lemonade stand venture raised $1,800, she did more and more of them. When Alex passed away form the cancer at age eight, her parents refused to stop. $200 million later, Alex's Lemonade Stands are going strong!
Jay Scott is is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
Amazing Americans can be heard each Sunday in Denver at 7:00 AM on 850 KOA and 7:00 PM on Freedom 93.7
He is one of the greatest cyclists in American history. He is National Champion, an Olympian and two time Tour de France stage winner. He racked up an incredible 328 pro cycling victories. But shortly after his retirement from the sport, he was hit with a challenge much bigger than any road race. Parkinson's Disease. And for the past 20 years, he has not only fought the fight against Parkinson's. He has won! The remarkable Davis Phinney is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
From the outside, he looked like a highly successful market trader, making big returns for his wealthy clients. But it was all a ruse. He was operating a ponzi scheme. It was eventually discovered, he was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 15 years in prison, where he miraculously survived a flesh eating disease. Today, he is out of prison, and helping people avoid the mistakes he made. His powerful story of one of greed and redemption.
Mark Jackson is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
He was born with a rare form of cancer in his eyes. After numerous rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, the cancer kept coming back and the decision was made to remove one of his eyes. A year later, at the age of six, his other eye was removed. Yet Kyle Coon never slowed down. In fact, he became even more determined. And today, he is one of the best blind triathletes in the world.
Kyle Coon is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
She became the youngest person in history to complete a marathon on all seven continents. Then, inspired by the death of her father, she turned to another sport, Aerial Skiing, where she has become one of very the best in the world.
Winter Vinecki is my guest the this week on Amazing Americans.
It is difficult to believe that anyone has overcome more odds to win an Olympic Gold Medal. He was abandoned at birth by his mother. He contracted a "mysterious disease" at age four that stunted his growth. He lost his mother to cancer as a teenager, and eventually was diagnosed with two different cancers, which included multiple brain tumors. Yet he not only persevered, but became that Olympic champion. Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist, is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
She was the first U.S. female military member to lose a limb in the Iraqi War. The Bronze Star and Purple Heart Award winner then went on to become a world class athlete. Melissa Stockwell is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
It took her 16 years and five Olympics, but Kikkan Randall finally realized her life's dream of winning an Olympic Gold Medal. Then, just three months later, she was hit with cancer. But today, she is back and maybe better than ever!
Olympic champion and cancer survivor Kikkan Randall is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
There are stories of brotherly love - and then there is the story of the Pease Brothers. The Atlanta natives are two years apart. One is a healthy, able-bodied athlete, the other born with Cerebral Palsy and Spastic Quadriplegia. Yet they found a way to compete together in the sport of triathlon. In fact, last year, they defied all the odds and, as a team, finished the the toughest, most prestigious triathlon, the grueling Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. And the brothers made history in the process! Kyle and Brent Pease are my guests this week on Amazing Americans.
He was part of what many feel is the greatest moment in American Sports History. Mike Eruzione was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team that beat the Soviet Union and won the Gold Medal in Lake Placid, NY. Many consider the victory over the Soviets, a team that had earlier beaten an NHL All-Star team 6-0, the greatest UPSET in Olympic HISTORY. For any sport. Eruzione was captain of the team and scored the winning goal against the powerful Russians. His story captivates like few others in sports can.
Mike Eruzione is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
Danny Chew was one of the greatest endurance cyclists in the world. A former professional road racer, he switched to ultra endurance events and became a two time Solo Race Across America winner. He set a goal of riding 1 million miles in his lifetime. Then tragedy hit. A cycling crash left him paralyzed from the chest down. Today, he pursues those million miles from a hand cycle.
Danny Chew is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
His dream was to be a Major League Baseball Player, a driving passion that started at age four. He was clearly on that path until his senior year in college, when it was all taken away - only to be replaced by something more important, more noble, much more rewarding. He went from Division I baseball player to U.S. Navy Seal!
Jason Kuhn is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
He saw a need and, as a result, developed a passion. The passion was to help underprivileged kids, especially those in foster care systems in the United States. The passion was so strong that he started running. Really running. Running all the way across the country. How about 121 marathons in 121 days! Noah Fredenberg is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
Amazing Americans can be heard each Sunday in Denver at 8:00 AM on 850 KOA and 7:00 PM on Freedom 93.7
It started as a bet with the high school baseball team he was coaching. If they won the Regional Tournament, he would attend a major league tryout. It turned into one of the greatest comebacks in pro sports history. Jim Morris, the subject of the hit movie, The Rookie, is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
She survived a car accident as horrific as one could fathom. A dump truck blew a tire on I-25 in Denver and slammed into the SUV driven by her husband and occupied by her parents. Her father died in the accident, her mother and husband both seriously injured. She barely survived, with burns on an astounding 95% of her body. She had both legs and one arm amputated and spent a record 425 days in a Denver hospital.
Jamie Ketchum is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
Amazing Americans can be heard each Sunday in Denver at 8:00 AM on 850 KOA and 7:00 PM on Freedom 93.7
He was born with one arm, yet Tom Southall was a three sport high school star. And one of the greatest athletes in Colorado history. The recent inductee into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
He is one of the very best professional fishermen in the world. Yet he has no legs, no left arm and a stub for a right arm. He uses no special fishing equipment and ties lures on his line using his mouth and tongue. He casts by tucking his fishing rod under his chin and whipping it sideways. And on top of all that, he has an enthusiasm for life that might be his most impressive trait.
Clay Dyer is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
For years, Denver business owner James Ruder was challenged with finding and retaining a workforce for his pallet making operation. Until he started hiring refugees. The results have been stunningly successful. For both Ruder and his new employees. James Ruder is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
Amazing Americans can be heard each Sunday at 8:00 AM on KOA NewsRadio in Denver
He was born with no legs. Yet what Dave Stevens has done without them is truly remarkable. He was a three sport athlete in high school, setting and still holding Arizona state records in two different sports. Then, incredibly, he competed in three sports in college. And maybe just as impressive as his athletic achievements, are his zest, passion for life and his quest to live it to its absolute fullest.
It's every parent’s absolute worst nightmare. Your young child has an illness. A serious illness, one that might take his or her life. In the case Tammy Krause, the child was her daughter, and just 5 years old. Gabby Krause was found with a malignant tumor in her head one day before her 5th birthday. She left the world not long after. Gabby Krause would leave the world- but she also left the world a gift. A gift her mom Tammy carries on to this day. Tammy Krause is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
After taking a trip overseas and seeing people, especially children, dying from a lack of clean water, Bryce Matteson decided to do something about it. He decided to start running again. And did he ever run! 50 marathons in 50 weeks in 50 states!! Bryce Matteson is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
She is one of the greatest athletes in Olympics history. She owns no fewer than nine Olympic gold medals in swimming. Post-Olympics, she married a former NFL player, was a media darling and seemed unstoppable in anything she tried. Amy Van Dyken was on top on the world - until an ATV accident almost took her life, then completely changed it. Today, she might operate from a wheelchair, but she looks as unstoppable as ever!
Amy Van Dyken is my guest this week on American Americans.
When Zack Golditch walked into an Aurora, CO movie theater seven years ago, he had no idea he would run out of it as a mass shooting victim. 12 people were killed. Golditch was one of 71 others who were wounded, hit in the head by a bullet as he turned to look at another victim. And he never let the injury or the horrible experience deter his dream of playing in the NFL.
Zack Golditch is my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
When Johm McCollum and his wife decided to adopt a child from Vietnam, they had no idea the experience would completely change their lives. And they certainly never dreamed it would change the loves of thousands of destitute children, as well.
John McCollum is the co-founder and Executive Director of Asia's Hope, an organization that provides home style care for orphaned kids at high risk of exploitation, in Southeast Asia, and my guest this week on Amazing Americans.
He was in the prime of his Major League Baseball career and coming off a 14 win season as a pitcher for the Colorado Rockies, until the almost unthinkable happened. Cancer. Chad Bettis is the guest this week on Amazing Americans. Bettis shares his incredible cancer journey, from doubting his baseball future, to his triumphant comeback.
It started with a trip to Kenya to simply introduce kids to the sport of baseball. But what that experience has led to for Jim Cederberg is truly remarkable.
Jan Brown's life mission began with tragedy. A flight attendant on a crippled commercial airliner headed toward a crash landing, she told a mother to place her young son on the floor of the plane for the emergency landing. The boy died in the tragedy. What has followed for Jan Lohr is a 30 year crusade to prevent that from ever happening again.
If we live long enough, we WILL experience tragedy in our lives. But what about a person who has two absolutely horrible tragedies within five years? W. Mitchell barely survived a motorcycle crash that burned over 60% of his body, then a plane crash that left him a paraplegic. The former mayor of Crested Butte, CO, W. Mitchell, is my guest this week on Amazing Americans. His story of what he has done SINCE and WITH these horrific experiences will blow you away!
Jerry Schemmel talks with Sean Swarner, 2 time cancer survivor and record setting Mountaineer.