Jason Lester was in a terrible accident as a child, which left his right arm paralyzed. His father died shortly after the accident, and Jason turned to sport as a way to cope. Today, he is a multiple Ironman finisher, founder of the Never Stop Foundation, and an international inspiration.

A movie about his life, Chasing Me (www.chasingmemovie.com) is currently in production. To hear the entire interview, go to www.competitorradio.com and type "Jason Lester" in the search box.

Bob Babbitt: Jason, take us through the accident.

Jason Lester: Like any normal 12-year-old on Halloween night, I went out and did the trick-or-treating thing and then decided to go and rent a movie. I was crossing an intersection on my bike and a lady ran a red light and hit me. I never saw her. She was going 80 miles per hour and I flew about 130 feet in the air. My shoes went one way and I went the other. I landed on my shoulder with my feet up in the air, and ended up with 21 broken bones, a collapsed lung and a paralyzed right arm. Right there at the scene I was just gargling in my own blood, pretty much dying… but then I was saved.

BB: At that point, your mom was not around, and you were living with only your dad. And he had to watch his only child hanging on by a thread.

JL: I got hit four days before my state championship football game. I was always an all-star athlete, since I was kid, and my dad was always my coach, my biggest supporter and my best friend. He was stressed. He thought, “Everything I’ve put into this investment, this child, to make him the best athlete possible – it's all gone.”

While I was in the hospital for three months in rehab, my dad had a major heart attack and passed away.

BB: Who’d you live with?

JL: I ended up living with his mother, my grandmother. Which was interesting because she was in her 60s and suddenly had a 12-year-old. We both were like “Whoa, what do we do?”

I made a decision right there at the hospital when my dad passed away, that I was either going to go north or south in my life. I chose to use what he taught me in those twelve years to become the best possible athlete, even with the use of only one arm.

BB: Obviously you still wanted to be an athlete. Were your coaches open to it?

JL: I had this group of three friends that I was really close with all through my childhood. We all played sports together. And they came together and said, “You are going to do this.” We were going from junior high into high school. They said, “You’re going to try out for the football team.” I thought it was crazy. But they said, “We’re going to strap you in. We’re going to buckle you up. And you’re on the team.”

Every week when you’re in freshman football, you have to fight for your position. And I kept beating these guys! I was playing center, and I was starting! At the end of my freshman football year, we had a banquet, and the coach gave me the Ironman award. He said, “If everybody on this team had the heart that you have, we would’ve won every game.” And that’s what it’s all about. Not so much the physical ability; it's the heart and the mental ability.

BB: What did you weigh?

JL: 145 pounds.

BB: A 145-pound, one-armed center. Sweet. What about other sports?

JL: Freshman, sophomore, and junior years I played football and baseball. In junior year my baseball coach goes, “You know, you come in first every time that you guys get in trouble and I make you do laps. Have you ever thought about running track?” I took it seriously and started running cross-country and track.

Running became my escape from all the pain that I hadn’t dealt with. I hadn’t even dealt with the loss of my father. I hadn’t dealt with the loss of my arm. I was always just running because I didn’t want to deal with reality. I went on to do 60 duathlons, marathons, 5K's and 10K's by the time I was 22 years old. I thought that if I could just do as many as possible, I wouldn’t have to deal with reality. In 2004 I made the decision that I was going to train hard for a duathlon. I went out to Arizona and raced, took first in my age group and second overall, and I thought, “Hey, I still have it.” In October I went to Kona to watch the Ironman. Walking down Alii Drive, I busted out in tears. I cried for six hours.

BB: And you were just going to watch it?

JL: Just to watch. But the energy, the vibe, just made me cry. I kept asking myself, “What are you crying for?” And I thought, “You are the Ironman. This is you. You need to structure your life around training for the Ironman.” So I went back to Los Angeles, packed my bags, and moved to Kona. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right. I contacted world-class swimmer Karlyn Pipes-Nelson and said, “I want you to be my coach.” And she asked, “Well, what are you looking to do?” I said, “Ironman.” And she just started laughing. She didn’t even know about the arm yet. I told her, “We have a little disadvantage here, but we’re still going to do it.” She just chuckled and said, “Meet me at the pool in three days.”

I went over to Kona Aquatics and set up camp for four months. I lived, ate, and slept the Ironman. I wanted to really race it. I went back to Arizona, the place where I was hit by the car, to do the Ironman. It meant the world to me. My family was there, my friends were there. It was almost like I was going to go there to forgive the person who hit me and say, “Watch this.”

It was such an awesome experience. I just went out there and enjoyed myself. I crossed the finish line in 12 hours and 38 minutes and I said, “I’m going to be back next year and I’m going to do 11 hours.”

BB: How fast did you swim?

JL: 1:25. I couldn’t even do a 50 without stopping before working with Karlyn.

BB: Could you ever have imagined all this would happen?

JL: My friends, they always saw me as Jason; they didn’t see me as Jason who has a disability. They saw me as the Jason who two years ago was one of the best baseball players on the team with two arms. When I made the decision to do Ironman, I called my best friend in Arizona and said, “Hey, what do you think about me doing the Ironman?” And he laughed and said, “You are the Ironman.”