What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

200: Jeff lost his arm

24 snips

Dec 20, 2024

Jeff's incredible journey takes a turn when a summer job leads to a harrowing accident, resulting in the loss of his arm. With humor as his shield, he narrates the chaos and emotions of that fateful day. The conversation shifts to his life after the tragedy, tackling challenges and adapting without a prosthetic. He shares poignant moments of resilience and the uplifting power of laughter. Jeff also dives into his new pursuits in motivational speaking and stand-up comedy, aiming to inspire others while weaving in personal anecdotes.

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ANECDOTE

Running in Shock

After his arm was severed, Jeff and the coworker who turned off the machine both ran in shock.
Jeff, bleeding profusely, ran after the coworker, holding his severed arm out in front of him.

ANECDOTE

Father's Reaction

Jeff's father, who got him the job, was devastated upon seeing his son's injury.
He threw his pager against a train in shock and struggled with guilt over the accident for years.

ANECDOTE

Carpet Chaos

The accident occurred while new carpet was being installed at Jeff's parents' house.
Neighbors helped move the furniture back inside while his parents rushed to the hospital.

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Have you ever seen stories of someone who was born with no arms?

I’ve seen videos and I think maybe even a documentary like that. Usually they will profile one particular person, who is now an adult, and this person lives a full, happy life - with no arms. Which means, of course, that they do a lot of things with their feet.

And these people are amazing – they have learned to do almost anything with their feet, that the rest of us rely on our hands for. They cut up their kids’ food for them, they drive cars, they compete athletically… it’s just their normal, so they’ve learned how to get stuff done in spite of having no arms.

Jeff was not one of those people. He was actually born with both arms. But as a teenager, working a summer job, he was involved in an accident that meant one of his arms was pretty violently pulled off.

In this Flashback episode, Jeff talks about how that happened, and what he did in the minutes immediately following the accident. And here’s what’s kind of funny – Jeff told this story a few years ago here on the podcast, and in spite of how horrifying it is, I have had so many listeners tell me they loved hearing it because Jeff is so funny!

And after his story, you’ll hear the brief modern-day conversation I recently had with Jeff to find out what he’s up to more these days – and it turns out, he’s STILL being funny.

If you’d like to contact Jeff: jeffbardel@yahoo.com

He’s also in the WWTL podcast Facebook group: WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/200

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

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