Perspective Changes Everything: Gini Thomas—Still Standing, One Year Later

Some stories don’t end when the moment passes. They evolve.

One year after first sharing her powerful story, Gini Thomas returns to The P-I-G for a deeply honest conversation about what life looks like after survival becomes reality.

This is not a retelling of the accident that took her husband Joe and eventually led to the loss of her leg—it’s a look at everything that comes after. 

Gini opens up about:

•  The physical and emotional realities of continued healing 
•  Recurring surgeries, setbacks, and the patience required to rebuild 
•  The role of perspective in navigating both pain and progress 
•  Why no two grief journeys—or amputee journeys—are ever the same 
•  The importance of advocating for yourself in both life and medical care 

As part of Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month, this conversation also expands into advocacy—highlighting accessibility, insurance limitations, and the growing movement to ensure that people with limb loss have the tools they need to fully participate in life.

Gini also shares her upcoming work with the Limb Kind Foundation, including a life-changing mission trip to Ethiopia—continuing her commitment to turning pain into purpose.

This episode is a reminder that resilience isn’t a moment—it’s a process. And sometimes, the most meaningful part of the story… is what happens after.

If you haven’t yet heard Gini’s full journey, we encourage you to go back and listen to Episode #6: Still Here, Still Standing.

Transcript

Why We Return to Gini’s Story

Erin 0:03

There are some stories that don't end when the episode does. They stay with you, they evolve, and over time, they reveal even more. One year ago, we had the privilege of sitting down with Gini Thomas to hear a story that changed the way we, and so many of you, think about life, love, loss, and what it truly means to keep going.

Kellie 0:23

Today, we return to that conversation. Not to revisit the past, but to understand what life looks like now. Because healing doesn't happen all at once, it unfolds in real time and often in ways we don't always see. In this episode, we go beyond the motorcycle accident that claimed the life of her husband Joe, and eventually her leg, to explore what the past year has held, from continued challenges to new opportunities, and the unexpected ways purpose, patience, and perspective grow out of pain.

Erin 0:54

Gini also invites us into the work she's doing beyond her own journey, raising awareness during limb loss and limb difference awareness month, and stepping into spaces that extend far beyond her story.

Kellie 1:06

This conversation is a reminder that resilience isn't a moment, it's a process. And sometimes the most powerful part of the story is what happens after. If you haven't yet heard Gini's full journey, we encourage you to go back and listen to episode number six.

Erin 1:22

Welcome to The P-I-G, where we explore life, love, loss, and legacy through real conversations and meaningful stories with purpose, intention, and gratitude. We're Kellie and Erin, sisters, best friends, sometimes polar opposites, but always deeply connected by the life and love of the woman who taught us to be resilient and brave no matter what life brings. Our mother, Marcia.

Kellie 1:51

Well, it's been one year since we sat down with Gini Thomas, and her story is one that has stayed with us. In August of 2012, a motorcycle accident changed everything, taking the life of her husband Joe, and setting her on a path of more than two dozen surgeries and eventually full leg amputation, years of recovery, resilience, and rebuilding. She lost Joe, her leg, a chunk of her life, and then her mom. But stories like Gini's don't end when the episode does. They continue quietly, courageously, and often in ways we don't always see. Today we return to that conversation, not to retell it, but to explore what life looks like now, one year later. What's changed, what's still hard, what's been rebuilt, and what continues to unfold. From more surgeries and physical progress to new love and personal growth, to the work she's doing to raise awareness during limb loss and limb difference awareness month in April. This conversation is about what it really means to keep on, keeping on. Not perfectly, not easily, but honestly. Gini, thank you so much for sharing time with us again. It's so good to have you back. And we're really looking forward to seeing where this conversation takes us today.

Gini Thomas 3:18

I'm so excited to be back. I feel like when we all connected, we were instantly family, and it's been so much fun to watch your progress over the last year and listening to each episode and hearing these incredible stories that have inspired me at the same time. The stories are so different, but each one does leave you kind of with a sense of purpose and feeling like, all right, I'm ready to get it going again. Let's get moving. I got this. Let's go. So I'm excited that I can be back with y'all again.

New Opportunities After Hard Things

Kellie 3:52

Well, thank you for that. And I want to remind our listeners that you were one of our earliest guests. You trusted us with your story and with your journey on episode six. And so I really want to encourage listeners to go back and really take in that story because, you know, well, I'd like to have you share some recap of what happened to bring you to where you are today. The real story is in that episode, and that's the real meat of how you even got to where you are, what life has been for you from that point of the motorcycle accident to that episode. But today, in addition to that, is really about exploring what's been after that. What has your life looked like over the last year?

Gini Thomas 4:44

I have had so many more opportunities just dropped into my lap. It's it's kind of funny. I guess when you have just the tiniest bit of a social media following, all kinds of people from all different walks can find you. And sometimes you get connected to really awesome people and things just build from that. I mean, I kind of know you guys that way from being on Jason's podcast a couple of years ago, just talking about movies. I mean, that doesn't have anything at all to do with being an amputee, but I digress. That comes from kind of the platform and just meeting people from all walks of life. But it really has plugged me into so many other opportunities, whether that's speaking engagements at physical therapy schools, prosthetic schools, whether that's doing different fundraisers, whether that's getting connected with different charities, whether that's getting to go VIP at a golf tournament and just walk around a golf course and let people check out your prosthesis. So many random things that have just, like I said, fallen into my lap. I've been very fortunate to take some pretty incredible trips and meet people from all walks of life who continue to keep me inspired and keep me motivated. Even if I'm down and having a surgery or having a bad pain day, usually there's something in the future that's letting me say, all right, I have to keep pushing because I want to feel my best so that I can show up for these people at this event. I've got to feel good for this because I really want to show up for these people. And I think that's been something that's continued to help me heal ever since the wreck. Knowing that I can show up for other people helps me heal at the same time. And it's it's not a sense of, oh, if I don't do this, it's the end of the world. It's a sense that, no, if I feel good, other people can feel good. And we can multiply that out into the world and trying to look at it from that point of view. So it's not, oh, I have 10 things that I have to do today. It's I have 10 things that I get to do today. So let me let me go put on my feel-good pants and go knock this out because it's gonna make a difference.

Perspective When Pain Stays Close

Kellie 6:57

I love the analogy of that ripple effect. It's like dropping a pebble right in the water. Or when Erin and I grew up, our grandpa loved to skip rocks. He taught us how to skip rocks, you know, and you skip that rock, and that water just ripples. And we talk about that a lot, obviously, as you know, roots and ripples. But to take something that is a tragedy and a trauma and then turn it into something so dynamic and life-giving and forward-moving, and it's good for you and it's good for other people. I mean, that's what purpose, intention, and gratitude is all about.

Gini Thomas 7:36

Absolutely. Absolutely. For my P here lately, it's been about perspective and trying to just back away and get perspective on everything. And that's that's something I had to focus on a lot in the early days because you know, you're in the middle of just this darkness and everything seems terrible. And if you can somehow take a step back and get some perspective on what's going on and all that dark stuff, just back out a little bit, try to see more of a big picture. Usually I can start to pull myself around. Not always, and it doesn't always happen immediately. I mean, it took years for me to realize okay, there's still a point to me being on this earth. I wasn't left here to suffer. There are still days I think that, but I was not left here to suffer. I was here to serve a purpose and prove that we can be tough and resilient and happy and sad at the same time and still have fun and help others along the way. So it's realizing that it's not all about this one moment right here in this darkness. Just take a breath, step back, get some, get some perspective. What's the greater image here? Okay, maybe there is something good.

Erin 8:56

Yeah, that's so true. And it's also important because it doesn't mean that you ignore the pain. Not at all. Doesn't necessarily go away. The hardships can still be present, but being able to have that zoomed out perspective, and so you can see the hardship, but then you can also see the good that surrounds it. Man, that is so important.

Gini Thomas 9:22

I wish life was like, you know, on your phone when you can pinch and zoom. Like, no, everything's zoomed in on the darkness right now. But if I could, if I could pinch and zoom out, like, hey, maybe here in this corner that I wasn't paying attention to, I have this awesome new connection that I've made because this bad thing happened. So, oh, and look, outside of that, there's another cool connection or there's another opportunity that never would have come about if any of this had happened. I would not be doing speaking engagements and educational events with Integrum and Ottobock if I had not been run over. I'm not saying go out and get run over. So you can get an opportunity too. But that's in the zoomed out picture for me. I can zoom out. There's these other little points that aren't in the immediate bubble of what just happened, but all of these other things that are also there. So yeah, the good and the bad do coexist for sure.

Erin 10:18

Yeah, they absolutely do. I really appreciate your perspective through all of that and for sharing that so openly. That's a really, really important reminder.

Gini Thomas 10:30

Y'all might have to remind me of that sometimes too, because I do forget.

Kellie 10:33

And vice versa. What an important reminder for everybody everywhere who's had any kind of loss, no matter what it is. We've all lost people that we love. We lose our youth, we lose our finances, we lose all the things that we talk about. And there's always a perspective to be gained when we can zoom out, get that bigger, broader perspective. It's beautiful.

Gratitude Through Surgeries and Setbacks

Erin 11:01

Yeah, that's really cool. Is there anything, Gini, from when you were last with us from that particular conversation? And we really do want any listeners who haven't heard that episode to go back and listen to it. Do you have anything in particular from that conversation that has stayed with you over the last year?

Gini Thomas 11:22

I think trying to always come back to gratitude, especially on the really hard, painful days. Since we last spoke, I had regrowth of more neuromas on the sciatic nerve in my residual limb. I've had surgery for this multiple times, and there are procedures that typically prevent this from recurring. And my Deadpool superpower is regrowing these nasty things. It's hard in the moment of that pain and realizing we're going through this all over again, and it hasn't even been a year. I didn't even get a year of relief this time. What are we even doing? What is the point of all of this? Like, why have I even had all of these previous surgeries if I'm just gonna wind up at the exact same point? And trying to find gratitude in that is really difficult. I have learned that I do not like to slow down at all. I like to have a bunch of things going. I don't like to sit. I'm very, very independent. I don't want help. I don't want to ask for help. I think I can do everything by myself. So gratitude here is yes, it's painful and it's awful. And it means at least a month of sitting and doing nothing. But I needed that reset every single time it's happened. I have needed that reset, both physically and mentally. And that's still hard to admit because I don't even like to admit that I need to take that long of a break, but it makes a difference. It is kind of a reset. So I've just slowly been getting back into the gym. Really, from this, the surgery was at the end of January, and April is upon us. And I'm nowhere near where I was. I've lost a lot of muscle. I've lost a lot of range of motion and flexibility. And I think it's a good mental exercise for me to kind of structure myself in getting back to it. I mean, when when my wreck first happened, I used to bounce back from a surgery so quickly. And I like to think that I'm still 27 and I'm still gonna bounce back. Like that's the reality is I'm turning 41 and I don't bounce back as quickly. So now it's a whole new mental exercise of trying to plan out what are the little things I can do each day to keep moving forward. And what little things can I be grateful for in the slow growth there? That is a challenge, but still grateful for it. Because it's it's still a challenge that I get to experience and a challenge that I can learn from. And on down the road, probably a challenge that I can share with other people who are facing something similar. And I can be there to tell them, yeah, I know this sucks so much right now, but this is not the end. And you will not be stuck in this moment forever, and you'll get back to where you want to be. It might take a little bit longer, but you're gonna get there. It's all gonna work out.

Kellie 14:24

It gives you a perspective of real, true, honest empathy. Yeah. That is rare. You know, it's rare to be able to have that, especially in your world as an amputee. And you're talking to other amputees who are facing all of this for the first time, and to be able to say, Yeah, I get it. Yeah, I actually know what this feels like and what this journey looks like. And it's not easy.

Phantom Limb Pain And What Helps

Gini Thomas 14:59

It's not at all. And you will feel absolutely insane, especially when you're talking about phantom limb pains. Like you can tell yourself all day that foot isn't there, but you know what? It's being stabbed with something electrically charged every 15 to 20 seconds, and you really think you're losing your mind.

Kellie 15:16

Yeah, because your brain says at the same time, I know it's gone, but it's supposed to be there. Yeah. So it's like this tug-of-war inside your brain. Yeah. That's pretty incredible to think about. I've never really thought about it that way.

Gini Thomas 15:33

It is wild for sure. And some people have had success with mirror therapy. So holding up a mirror to the sound limb and doing exercises with that limb. So it mirrors and looks like you still have both. What's interesting is they've come out with some studies recently that show that the brain doesn't necessarily remap that way. So mirror therapy does not work for all people. And if it works, it usually takes a pretty regimented therapy, like over several months, to start to see results. But that's that's one thing people throw at me all the time. Well, you know, I saw in this episode of House where they used a move and it immediately took away the pain. Oh my god. That'd be so awesome if everything that happened on TV happened in real life. Yeah, it does, it does work for some people though. I it's it's wild. I mean, just like with anything else, what works for one person doesn't work for the next. And so they just keep coming up with these therapies. And sometimes nerve stimulation works, and sometimes nerve blocks work, and sometimes you have to have surgery, and sometimes you take pills, some people smoke weed, and that takes care of it. I mean, it just you find what works for your body, for your situation.

A Brief Recap of the Accident

Erin 16:50

Yeah. It's so interesting for me when I listen to you talk about that. That experience absolutely parallels all of grief for everybody, right? Like, and we talk about that all the time. Like your grief experience and journey is not mine. They are not the same, right? We can experience even like Kellie and I, right? The same loss and experience it in totally different ways. And it's been so fun and fascinating since we first met and we've become family, like you said, and and following each other, especially on social media. And I love all the content that you create and how just transparent you are with your experience. And I think that, you know, what we were just talking about in this conversation is actually also really important to touch on, which is even as an amputee, your amputee experience is not going to be the same journey and experience as another amputee. And so while you can offer that level of understanding and empathy and support on some level, every single person's journey with that is going to be unique and it's going to be different. And I think it's something that we just have to be willing to give ourselves and everybody else just an extra measure of grace and patience and understanding because we just can't compare our experiences to somebody else's experience.

Gini Thomas 18:35

That's why this podcast is so important. Because, like you said, everybody comes in with a story of grief somewhere along the way. And no two stories are the same. And I think it's important for us to realize that like everybody's pain is real. Just because your pain isn't the same as my pain, that doesn't make it any less real. Everyone needs to know that there's no right or wrong way to have that pain or to walk through that pain. We're all just doing whatever we can to get to the next day. And I I just it's important to have a grief community. It's important to have an amputee community. Whether you're a support group person or not, you don't even have to participate in it. Just listen and hear the many different viewpoints. And I think you can feel better about your own experience just knowing our lives aren't the same, but we are kind of the same. We can all experience pain and appreciate what the other person is going through and realize we're not alone.

Kellie 19:37

And also what it feels like to have lost this part of your body that is part of your being. Yeah. You know, we're physical human beings. Every day we're moving our bodies, whether we can walk or not walk, whether we can lift or not lift, but we have hands and we have feet and we have legs and we have eyes and ears and toes, and you know, we're getting ready to expect our second grandbaby, you know, coming into the world any day now. And happy birthday to you, Gini. By the way, we get to celebrate early day before your birthday with you. But I was thinking about looking forward to this little baby coming into the world. And what's the first thing you do, right? Count their fingers and you count their toes. And yeah, so when you have an experience or you come into the world without limbs, but if you have an experience that takes that away from you, that is its own individual journey.

Gini Thomas 20:37

Yeah.

Kellie 20:38

And everybody's journey to that place is different.

Gini Thomas 20:42

Yeah. And there's no wrong or right way to experience that either. I've always said I've had kind of a different vantage point on that, just because losing Joe in the wreck and not losing my leg that same day. Like I sure thought I was gonna lose it while I was still conscious and looking at everything, woke up a week later, didn't lose it, still had it, kept it for three years and fought with it. So by the time I amputated, I was celebrating, getting rid of that. Like I move on, I'd already lost the most important thing. So in my mind, I was like, it's a leg. Who cares? I can be just fine without a leg. But that's not everybody's experience. By a long shot, there are a lot of people who really struggle with the loss of identity. Well, who am I gonna be if I don't have two beautiful legs? I mean, I really don't know why I didn't struggle with this more because I used to tell everyone my legs were my best feature and I had to change that to my boobs instead. That's neither here nor there. I think I was just girl. I I was I was so done with my leg at that point that I was just ready to see it go. But then my dad's grief in this situation. I think I talked about this last time. My dad The one who broke down in tears when I came home all excited that I had scheduled amputation. And it was because a piece of his baby girl was gonna be gone. So it does go back to the first thing you do, you count the 10 fingers, 10 toes. And now I was only gonna have five of those toes. So yeah, it's there's a lot wrapped up into that. And we we don't even think about that. And it's it's another loss to grieve. It's not just the body part, it's grieving the life that you thought you were going to have. Because no matter what we do to try to change things, this world was not made for people who are missing parts or who have any sort of mobility difficulties. So there will always be added challenges or places that take a little bit more thought about getting into or getting out of. There's grief there, grieving the ease of things in life, I think.

Kellie 22:57

That's a good point. I was thinking about your dad too, from a parent's perspective, that so much of his grief may have been to just what is Gini's future gonna look like now. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I mean, a parent, how do I protect her from that? Yeah.

Osteointegration and a New Prosthetic

Gini Thomas 23:16

They wanted to absorb me back. I mean, clearly, right after the wreck, the house that I had lived in was a two-story house with all the bedrooms upstairs, the full bathrooms upstairs, and it was the home I shared with Joe. So of course I didn't feel comfortable for a lot of reasons going back to that home right away. So I, when I got out of the hospital, I went to my parents' house. And it's funny, they had just downsized. Like they had just built a new house that was smaller and had fewer bedrooms, and they had to immediately just kind of recalibrate everything to accommodate me and all of this new equipment that I was toting with wheelchair and a walker and a bedside commode, and you know, just all of the things fun things that that come with it. But yeah, they um I think they would have loved to have kept me at home. And my dad still wants to do that. I've moved about two hours away from him now, and he's he's okay with the two-hour difference, but I still think there are days where he thinks I'm just a toddler still, and he wants to keep me at home under his wing. He, of course, has my location on his phone so he can attract me at all times. Um yeah, he's that's cute. That's that's just a parent, though. Yeah. I'll keep it pretty concise. It's funny, I I usually have to do this like for speaking engagements because sometimes I don't even know how much time I'm given, and it'll be like, you have five minutes, go. It's a lot to condense because we talked for two hours before. So I was on a motorcycle with my husband Joe. We had been married exactly 17 months to the day. It was a Sunday morning. We were going to visit his mother about an hour, hour and a half away. Because it was a Sunday morning, less traffic, because we had a motorcycle trip planned and I had not been on the motorcycle in a while. We thought we'll just take the bike for this easy ride to ease Gini back into being on the motorcycle again. We'll take the back roads, it'll be a nice ride. We had just passed under the interstate to get to the back roads instead of the busy interstate, and a guy ran a stop sign on one of the side roads and just T-boned us. I saw everything coming and there was nowhere to go to bail out, and I blacked out on impact and came to sitting in the middle of the street, staring at bones sticking out of my leg, thinking to myself, well, that's probably gone. And then looking up from my leg to see the mangled motorcycle, and then looking up a bit further to see Joe face down in the street. And there was a guy wiping blood off my face, and I just kept asking him to go and see if Joe was breathing, and he never did. By the time more medics had arrived and they were loading me into the ambulance just from the conversations around me, I knew that Joe was gone. But nobody else knew that I knew. So as soon as I got into place in the ambulance, I blacked out and I was unconscious on a ventilator for a week. So my family and the doctors taking care of me made the decision to try to save my leg because they did not know that I already knew about Joe. And they did not want me to wake up to find out that I had lost two very important things in my life. So they did several surgeries that first week to try to save my leg. At the end of that week, when I was conscious again, they said there was about a 60% chance of me keeping that leg. It would just take a lot of surgeries. And I had an incredible trauma surgeon that I'm still friends with to this day. And he told me if at any point I was tired of surgeries, if I didn't want to go that route, that he would do whatever I wanted to do. So I I kind of went with the salvage game plan for a little while until I just had enough of the pain and the infection off and on and the not being functional. And I just I wanted off all of the medicine. So I made the decision to amputate three years after the wreck and did pretty well with a traditional prosthesis for a couple of years and then had issues with bone spurs as well as neuromas that just kept coming back in my limb. And every time they went to fix it, it would make my limb shorter and shorter. And I was already above the knee and just kept getting higher above the knee. And so finally, that same trauma surgeon said, I don't want to cut away anymore because I think I might take you out of the running for this newer procedure called osteointegration. And I don't want to take that away from you. And I'd been dealing with crutches off and on since the wreck, had been on crutches for a couple of years already. So I held on a little bit longer. And then osteointegration with the Integrum Oprah implant system gained FDA approval in 2020. So I started looking into that, got connected with a surgeon. It's a two-surgery process, which I started in the fall of 2021. And by the end of January of 2022, everything was completed. Started the lengthy rehab process and started learning to walk again after years of not using any of those muscles. So it took quite a while. But by the end of 2022, I had already been approached by Integrum about being one of their patient ambassadors to talk with other patients going through the exact same process. And I've been very fortunate to continue to work with them. Forever grateful for the opportunities that they've given me, not just to be a functional human being again and to regain full independence, but to share that with so many people. And they've been so supportive with my social media. I told them early on that I, you know, I didn't want to be paid for my social media posts because I still want to have carte blanche on what I say. And they've been good with that, even when I might have some interesting things to say or, you know, might not get glowing reviews from everyone, but they respect my authenticity for sure. So I'm appreciative to them for allowing that as well, which I think is really important. I've also been fortunate to do a little bit of work with Ottobock, and they are the company that makes my prosthetic knee. And it's a pretty high-tech knee. I just got a new one a month ago. I don't know if you guys paid attention to that or not, but I've been paying attention to that and all of the bells and whistles.

Erin 30:32

It's one of the things that I couldn't wait to talk to you about because I've been seeing it on social media and maybe it sent you a message like so excited, you know. But we haven't actually talked about it. And so keep going with your story, but yeah, we want to hear all about your fancy new leg.

Speaker 3 30:50

Yeah, I'm near, I'm wrapping up. I'm trying to wrap up my my little my little Cliffs Notes version of my story. So yeah, I get to do some fun events with Ottobock from time to time. I do public speaking things on my own, and sometimes I get some random side brand deals. Like I do some work with a company called Taste Coffee, T-A-Y-S-T. They were the first ones to make a compostable Keurig compatible pod. So my coffee doesn't taste like plastic, and I think that's amazing. So yeah, that's pretty much where I am. I probably didn't mention, but you might have picked up on it. I am from Alabama and originally from Montgomery. I am currently in Tuscaloosa, where I live with my boyfriend Sachin, and we've been together coming up on two years. We're close to two years now. He's just an incredible person all around. He's an OBGYN and minimally invasive surgeon. And people think that we talk about, you know, medical stuff all the time because I'm involved in orthopedics and he's involved in other our worlds do not collide, they're very separate, so we don't talk shop very much. I get to educate him about bones, but I already know everything about his business because I'm one of the females. It's fun. We we have two dogs. We have a pretty good life. I'm pretty happy with where I am right now.

Kellie 32:14

Yeah. Do you want to hear a very small world story? Yes, please. He actually is involved with University of Alabama. Yes. Correct?

Gini Thomas 32:24

Yes!

Kellie 32:25

So the current president of the University of Alabama, Pete Mohler, we grew up with.

Gini Thomas 32:32

No way.

Kellie 32:33

He's from Grand Junction, where Erin and I were born and raised.

Gini Thomas 32:38

That is incredible. Well, now you guys just have to come visit.

Kellie 32:41

Yeah. Yeah. Wonderful. Wonderful family. His parents were very good friends with our parents. And yes, we all grew up together. Very cool.

Gini Thomas 32:52

Well, I have not met President Mohler, but everything I hear, he's just the most down-to-earth person. Like on social media stuff that you see, he's just so cool. Yeah. Like he's somebody that you would just want to hang out with.

Kellie 33:05

Yes. And their whole family is that way. His sister, his brother. I went to one of our high school dances, Erin, with Andy. I love this so much. We have a big family history. So lots of fun. That is incredible. Thank you for having me.

Erin 33:21

I didn't even know that. That's wild.

Kellie 33:24

That's really cool. Yeah.

Erin 33:25

That's really cool.

Kellie 33:26

Little side story on Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Yeah.

Gini Thomas 33:30

I love it.

Kellie 33:30

And the connection to Grand Junction, Colorado. Who would a thunk? Who would have thunk?

Gini Thomas 33:36

Yeah. That's funny. So Sachin's originally from Houston. His parents are from India, immigrated over. He was born and raised in Houston and did his, I might get this backwards, residency in New York, fellowship in Pennsylvania. And he's got family and connections all over. So my husband, Joe, he was born in Dothan, Alabama, but was raised in Denver, Colorado. And so I have become a Denver Broncos fan. I adopted all of the Colorado teams because Alabama doesn't have any. And I have stuck with that. So I actually got to take Sachin to his first Denver Broncos game season. Still very, very good friends with my husband Joe's childhood best friend Bart and his family. So we got to meet up with them, and we all had such a good time. Sachin's name is spelled S-A-C-H-I-N, and people always mispronounce it. And his cheesy line is my name is Sachin because I'm such an awesome guy. And so now all of Joe's former friends in Denver, they just call him such an awesome boyfriend. Such an awesome boyfriend. Such a nice guy. Anytime they check in, how are you? How's such an awesome boyfriend?

Visibility For Limb Difference In Sports

Erin 34:54

I love that. Hey, I want to say something really fast because I was thinking about you the other day because, and I know that you are a fellow Denver sports fan, which makes my heart so happy. Yeah, she's wearing her Denver Bronco shirt today. And I'm wearing my Colorado State hoodie, my alma mater, and my son goes there as well. But as you both probably know, I was a soccer player. Both my boys were soccer players. Denver just got their first women's professional soccer team. Super exciting. I know. So fun, right? The Denver Summit this past weekend was their first home game. So this is their inaugural season, and they played their first home game at Mile High Stadium. Well, there were over 63,000 fans in attendance. They shattered the women's soccer league attendance record for their first home game, which was so cool. But there is a gal on the Denver Summit team. Her name is Carson Pickett. Okay. And if you're not familiar with her, please run to Instagram and follow her. But I was thinking about you because Carson was born without, I think it's her left. She was born without her left forearm and hand.

Gini Thomas 36:17

Okay, okay. I think I did see images of this now that you're saying this. Yes.

Erin 36:21

Yeah. Yes. And throughout her soccer career and her professional career, she also does a lot of work for limb difference awareness and advocacy. She's a huge proponent. And I'm just now starting to know her and follow her. And I just feel like the universe has conspired, you know, to just make me more aware of people with limb difference. And I just think that it's so important. So anyway, there was such a beautiful moment on the sidelines at this game this last weekend, where there was a young fan just right on the railing who very similarly was born without her forearm in hand. And I think she's like nine years old or something like that. And so Carson saw her, they locked eyes, and Carson ran over there and grabbed her phone and took a selfie and did an arm bump. You know, like lucky fin bump. Yeah, exactly. It's a total lucky fin bump. But anyway, when you said about the Denver sports teams, I just wanted to make sure that we mentioned on this episode with you how cool it is that, and again, maybe I'm just more aware of it since we've met and become friends, but I'm so grateful then that my own awareness has been heightened to people with limb loss and limb difference. I don't want to take full credit for this.

Gini Thomas 37:46

I do want to also say that Paralympic coverage and people watching the Paralympics, it continues to grow. Gosh, I was so impressed by people that I know and don't know who were just showing up and putting on the most amazing show ever. So I think people with limb loss and limb difference all over the place are doing such a great job to just really push it out there and raise so much awareness and just, you know, make people know that it's fine for us to coexist. Like we're all here doing the same things. And it doesn't have to be this scary thing that you hide from whole eyes. Like let's celebrate these differences and celebrate everything that we're able to do, no matter what our body looks like. It's just incredible.

Kellie 38:37

And inspiring. And so inspiring. And I would say also pushing the boundary on what is possible for the human body or the human being or the human mind to achieve.

Gini Thomas 38:51

Yeah, yeah. It's incredible. So I'm I'm gonna say it's it's not me.

Erin 38:56

But for me, I think meeting you and knowing you, yeah, and I mean, certainly you've impacted my social media algorithms to a point where I think it is feeding me more stories and I am becoming more aware and I'm grateful that my eyes and heart have been opened to something that I was less informed about before. And now I'm just really grateful. And so when I see a moment like the Denver Summit inaugural home game, and I see Carson Pickett, and she has this limb difference, right? And connects with a young fan who also has a limb difference, and it was just this beautiful moment in time that I was like, Oh, I can't wait to talk to Gini about this.

Gini Thomas 39:41

That's iconic.

Erin 39:42

Yeah, it was really cool.

Limb Kind Foundation and Ethiopia Mission

Gini Thomas 39:43

I really like that. I can break your heart open a little bit wider and talk about something that I have coming up in the future that I'm really excited about. And my dad being the overbearing, hovering parent, is not so thrilled about. So I have foundations or groups that I enjoy doing things with, but I don't just want to be stagnant and do the same thing every single year. Gosh, probably maybe a year ago or a little less than a year ago, I started seeing more about the Limb Kind Foundation. And I knew some people that had kind of been involved with them in the past, and I saw that they were doing a model call for their yearly runway show called Show Your Shine, in which they raise money for their foundation. They go on four mission trips a year. They've been doing Ethiopia, Zambia, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. And on these trips, they're providing prosthetic limbs to children. They're all 18 years or younger who were either born without limbs or lost them due to some other thing going on in the area. So I submitted, wanted to get involved with limb kind. So I did get selected to go do that runway show that was just before my last surgery, actually. At the end of January. And I had such a good feeling around the people who are running that foundation. Rob and Jill, just amazing people who make you feel like you are the only person in the world. But they do that for everyone, and especially for people in the limb loss and limb difference community. They do also support children here at home in the United States. So it's not just fixing other countries. They're helping people out here too. They just raise a lot of money to go to these other countries to help provide support there. So I got asked kind of last minute to fill in as a mentor on their trip to Ethiopia in July. In July? I'm so excited for you. I've already hit my fundraising goal. Okay, congratulations. My dad is losing his mind that I'm about to go. Sorry, Paul. In this time in our world, my dad being the parent is concerned for safety. And he kept saying, Sure, well, God gave you a brain so you could make good choices. And I said, Well, God also gave me a servant heart and an avenue to help. And I want to do that. I'm probably a little bit apprehensive about it too. I've never been out of the country before, but I know that the impact I can have on just one person, let alone 30, 40 kids, there is nothing that could keep me away from this trip. So I really hope to come back next year and share pictures and stories with you guys from what I've learned in being involved with an organization that is trying to take this pay it forward thing worldwide. It's really special. Like this community is something that I I never even imagined as being so cool. So I'm I'm really excited about that.

Erin 43:01

Huge congratulations for being selected, for reaching your fundraising goal already. As you were talking, I just kept thinking, oh, I can't wait to have you back to share all of the things. So of course, you know, we will do that. And it would really be fun actually to even just follow your journey a little bit closer. We want our community to rally around you as well. It's one of the things I've loved so much about our relationship with you. I know that you are one of our number one fans and supporters, and we will always be one of your number one fans and supporters. And so I really want our communities to come together and coexist alongside each other. But what an opportunity of a lifetime. Yeah, isn't it? And it is going to change you and impact you as much as it is those children in Ethiopia who are given life. Life-changing care. So I just cannot wait to hear about how it changes your heart and your mind. It's going to be really extraordinary and deeply impactful. And I am just thrilled for you. I could not be more excited.

Gini Thomas 44:16

Talk about gaining some perspective.

Kellie 44:19

I was gonna say it'll be so interesting to hear your shift in perspective having been there. Yeah. You know, and to be with these children.

Gini Thomas 44:29

Yeah, I'm pretty fortunate. Once again, something just sort of fell into my lap.

Kellie 44:36

I will say too that you look absolutely stunning on that runway. Oh, thank you.

Gini Thomas 44:44

Oh, it was a really, really fun show. We get we got to pick what we wanted to wear for it. I mean, the whole thing the theme is show your shine. So of course I picked something with some glitter, and I had a prosthetic cover designed specifically with that outfit in mind, and it was just, it was so much fun. I was in so much pain at the time. I really needed to have that surgery. But it was um, it was it was such an amazing experience. Like I, even though I was in pain, I felt so good the whole time because I was just uplifted by everyone around me. It's a lot of good people in one room. Um, I'm gonna segue and go back to what you said about me being your number one fan because I have to apologize. Because I tried to be the number one fan and I somehow only clicked one star on my review. I wrote a glowing review of the podcast. One star. I've tried to go back and correct that, and I don't know if it's been corrected or not. Or if my one star review is just permanently a mark.

Erin 46:26

I will have to go back and look. I think it is corrected. It is hilarious that I even discovered that. I mean, months after you wrote it. Like file this under the we don't know what the hell we're doing in the podcasting world. Fuck. But like, it's just not something that I've tracked, right? And I'm not the numbers girl. Like, Kellie knows this, like she's probably giggling because figures and numbers and whatever. I'm like, I don't care. Like, I just I don't know, just let me talk to people. So I was reading through the reviews, and I had just yes, noticed that there was a one-star review, and I was like, oh, somebody didn't have a great experience. Let me dig in and make sure that everybody's a-okay. And so then I found it and read the review that was, yes, glowing and beautiful and like all the extraordinary things said, and I was like, This doesn't make any sense. Something isn't adding up here. And then I looked at who wrote it and it was Gini.

Gini Thomas 47:33

So we realized that actually while I was in New York for that limb kind runway event.

Erin 47:38

I sent you into a panic. I know I did. You were like, I have to fix this right now, and you had no idea that I was on the other end just laughing, giggling, but I I think you fixed it.

Kellie 47:49

Well, we got a really good chuckle out of it.

Gini Thomas 47:52

Hey, I mean, maybe it keeps you humble. That was my purpose and the whole thing. You're all easy, girls.

Erin 47:59

Well, that's what family does for each other, they keep each other grounded.

Kellie 48:03

There you go.

Erin 48:04

That's so funny.

Awareness Month and Insurance Advocacy

Kellie 48:06

So you're headed to Ethiopia in July. April is limb loss and limb difference awareness month. Talk to us a little bit about this month and what's so special about it and what we can do, our listeners can do to help support it, how we can support what you're going to be doing in Ethiopia this summer.

Gini Thomas 48:29

I think if you if you want to support this trip to Ethiopia or really just Limb Kind in general, you can visit their social media, keep up with them. It's Limb Kind Foundation on Instagram. I'm sure that'll direct you to their website where you can contribute. I've hit my personal goal, but if someone still donated to me, it's all still associated with the website. So it's not coming into my pocket at all. Everything goes straight to the foundation. As far as limb loss, limb difference, awareness month, it's an opportunity to celebrate others in the community and talk about the things we've done, but also a chance to really talk about what we still want to do and what still needs to change. And I think a big thing that's gaining momentum now is something called so everybody can move. In the past, insurance companies have only been required to cover one prosthetic device per limb. And sometimes that's for life. Sometimes that might be, okay, we'll agree to replace it however many years. But still just one device. So if you think about a child who is newly in APT or even born without a limb, and they want to go to PE, but they've only been given their basic everyday walking around leg. And it doesn't have the energy return in that foot. It doesn't give them the ability to run. Maybe it's just a stiff leg. So they're already counted out of something because insurance says that it's not medically necessary for them to have an activity-specific device. So the So Everybody Can Move initiative is state by state introducing legislation to ask insurances to cover at least one additional limb. And that might not be for running, that might be for swimming, or like for upper extremity. That might be a limb that helps you to lift weights, or a limb, let's say your job is woodworking. Maybe it's got a certain attachment that helps you hold on to things so that you can do that job. An everyday prosthetic hand isn't going to allow you to do that. So again, it's a state-by-state thing. The goal has been to get 28 states to introduce this legislation by 2028, when the Paralympic Games will be in LA. I think we're always making a big push for that, but this month is just an extra heightened awareness time to try to push that forward. Alabama's lagging a little bit behind, like we do in a lot of things. I think Georgia has just made really good progress, which is encouraging for Alabama because a lot of times we follow suit with other southern states. So that's cool. I I want to say there's like maybe 14 states that have at least introduced this legislation so far. So we're getting there. And a lot of states are well on their way, and that's the big deal. So if you get involved with that in your own state or just in general, like I think state by state, they have individual Instagram accounts or there's just at so everybody can move and you can stay up to date with them that way. There's also just being aware of the community. So, like you said, Erin, like paying more attention to it. Another thing of see something, say something. If you notice, there's nothing wheelchair accessible in this place. That's a bad thing. Like when I was in between my two osteointegration surgeries and using a wheelchair, my favorite sports bar, I never could have gotten a wheelchair into that bathroom. So I just didn't go there to watch football in between those two surgeries. But that's that's a problem. And if you think about ways that we can adapt anything, really, making things more accessible doesn't hurt anyone. That only helps everyone. Making it more accessible for me also makes it more accessible for everyone else. It doesn't make it harder for someone to get in and out of the car. More parking space means we all have more room to get in and out of the car. So yeah, just looking for little things like that to encourage change that way. I think that's that's a really important way to support that it's pretty easy. It doesn't take any money, sometimes takes a little bit of courage to speak up and say, hey, why don't you have a ramp here?

Kellie 52:42

Yeah, I think Yeah, I think the key in everything that I heard is the pivotal word awareness. Yeah. That it's not just awareness about limb loss and limb difference, it's awareness about how this can be helpful to everybody across the board. Yeah, right. So it's win-win-win for everybody, not just somebody who is missing a limb. Right. But everybody wins. Everybody wins.

Erin 53:10

I'm so grateful for this conversation today and certainly moving into this month and same last year, right? When I didn't know that there was a limb loss, limb difference awareness month. Right. You made me aware of that. And we very purposefully wanted to have you back on so that we could focus on this really important work all month long. Because there are real challenges that unless you are facing those challenges or part of that community, you don't really think about. And so, again, drawing back to that awareness issue, but you know, different devices for different activities and what unfortunately is at the hands of what insurance is going to approve and what they're not so often, you know, and navigating that whole system for people. But there are just some real challenges. And so I'm grateful that we can come together and raise awareness.

Gini Thomas 54:09

I mean, the overall disabled community is a community that anyone can join at any time. You might be perfectly fine today, and tomorrow somebody runs into your motorcycle. Yeah. Everything changes. So I think it's important to be kind and be open to hearing about those changes that might make things more accessible. Because again, you might need those changes yourself one day or somebody that you care for. Is more than likely gonna need those changes at some point, one day. So the more aware we are, the more we move towards making those changes, the better off we all are.

Kellie 54:49

I think that's very wise, Gini. And I think it's an important message for all of us that we never know what the future, i.e., anything past this specific moment in time is going to bring for any of us. And not just us, but the people that we share life with. Yeah. The people we work with, the people we live in community with, our family members, our friends, anything can change for anybody at any moment. And so understanding having resources, being aware, being educated and mindful can't cause any harm in any way, shape, or form. It can only do good in the world. It's important. It is. I love that.

Erin 55:38

Yeah, that is really important.

Gini Thomas 55:40

Um, the color for limb loss, limb difference, awareness month is also orange. Oh there you go. Again, it goes to my Denver Broncos show today.

Kellie 55:50

I think that is excellent. I love that so much.

Assumptions About Love And Self Worth

Erin 55:54

Gini, I have a question for you because we have talked a lot today about the awareness. And Kellie and I have had a lot of conversations recently about awareness and the importance of awareness. The counter to that being assumptions. And when there's assumptions being made, oftentimes there's lack of awareness. And when you can draw awareness to something, it ultimately hopefully will remove some of those assumptions when we get clarity around something. So, in that spirit, is there anything that you believe people assume about your life that isn't true? Is there anything that you can think of that people assume about you based on your journey or your experience or your limb loss that if given an opportunity, that you could provide some clarity around or some awareness around to dispel some of those mistruths or assumptions being made by other people?

Gini Thomas 56:56

One that I get fairly often on social media, and it's a really superficial one, but a lot of people assume that amputees or people with any sort of physical difference are desperate for love. Like they think that we have such a low opinion of ourselves, such a low self-esteem that we will just accept any offer that is thrown at us. And this comes across in a lot of ways. But I've had people make comments to the effect of, well, I'd still date her or I'd still take that girl. And it's degrading in a lot of ways. And when you call people out on that, they say, I'm just trying to pay you a compliment. I'm trying to let you know that there's people who will still take you. And that's it's such a back-handed compliment because it's it's perpetuating the stigma that amputees or people with physical differences are less than and not worthy of complete love and acceptance. And I don't want anyone to feel that way ever. I especially do not want a new amputee to feel that way. Losing a limb might be part of your story and part of your identity, but there is so much more than that. And you are worthy of love and appreciation and happiness. You should not be made to feel like, well, I guess I just have to accept whatever comes my way. And then that can translate into your medical care as well. People in the medical world might try to tell you that they know things about your body more than than you do when you're the one experiencing it. And they'll tell you, well, that's just how it is. So that's just what you have to take. Or you go to a prosthetics clinic and they say, Well, you know what, your insurance is only gonna pay for this, so this is what you have to take. You know, deal with it. You can come back in three years. And I don't want anyone to settle. Don't settle for love, don't settle for medical care if you are not getting your needs met. You are 100% worthy of fighting for that and getting what makes you whole. And I'm not saying whole in a physical sense, but whole in your overall self. So don't ever let anyone make you feel less than in any way. In any way.

Kellie 59:31

I think one of the things that I have come to respect so much about you, Gini, in our conversations and watching you from afar is how well you advocate for yourself and for others.

Gini Thomas 59:44

I told y'all, my favorite podcaster always says stay pesky, and I stay pesky. Shout out to Mandy Matney once again.

Kellie 59:55

Hello, Mandy. She's welcome on The P-I-G anytime. Yeah.

Gini Thomas 1:00:00

You always have to be your own best advocate. No one knows you like you know you. So you gotta fight for it. Yeah, you gotta fight for it.

Kellie 1:00:10

It'll be worth it. You're worth it. Yeah, it's an important message, and not just for people who have limb loss and limb difference. It's an important message for everybody. Yeah. Be your own best advocate. Nobody knows your body the way that you know it, your heart, your mind, your soul, your spirit. We are the very best individuals to represent ourselves, what we think, what we believe, who we are in this world, and to do it unapologetically, as long as we're good humans. Yeah. Be a good human, but do it unapologetically. And again, I I have so much respect for how well you advocate for yourself and others. Well, thank you.

Gini Thomas 1:00:55

That's another thing that I think I've gained through this journey. I don't know that I was ever this forceful about my medical care before my wreck. And I've had to find my voice. And I'm, I mean, it's it's regrettable that I've had to find it in some of these situations because some people just would not listen. And you just have to keep pushing when you know something is not right. Yeah. And it's vindicating when in the end you have the results that show you were right the whole time, but it's frustrating.

Kellie 1:01:25

But you even did it for yourself when it was time to make the call to amputate your leg. And even with your own dad being an advocate in that moment and saying, Dad, I know you're sad and I know you're grieving probably even more than I am right now. And that this is a loss for you just as much as it is a loss for me. But this is a necessary loss to gain so much more on the other side. Right. And look what you have gained.

Gini Thomas 1:01:56

I know I didn't imagine this. For sure, my dad never imagined any of this stuff that I'm able to do now. So it's it's been a remarkable, remarkable journey.

Kellie 1:02:07

So I smile every time I think about the legacy that Gini Thomas is leaving on the world. And in episode six, the last time you were here, we talked a lot about Joe's legacy and the music festival that carries on in his name and his honor. I want to celebrate your legacy. Oh, and the work that you are doing in this world bravely, courageously, passionately. You're out there doing it every single day. And we see it. Other people are also benefiting from it, and it's been incredible to watch. Thank you.

Investing in Yourself and Moving Forward

Gini Thomas 1:02:45

I haven't done any of it by myself, and I've been very, very fortunate to have good people with me along the way. And I just keep adding good people to my team here. And I'm so glad I got The P-I-G back in me as well with the one-star review. Thanks for being on my team, even though I only gave you one star.

Kellie 1:03:04

Oh well, the last time you were here, we talked about your PIG. And in the beginning of the episode, we talked about the shift in the P. Do you have a shift in your I and your G?

Gini Thomas 1:03:17

I think I have shifted the I a little bit more because I think I just had like purpose in gratitude last time.

Kellie 1:03:24

So it was patience. Patience and gratitude. Gratitude. And we went with patience in gratitude. Because you were really that was the big lesson from a year ago was learning how to be patient. Yeah. It's still hard. And finding gratitude in the Eeyore days. I love the story about your Eeyore days and the impact that your mom had in your life.

Gini Thomas 1:03:51

I still have those Eeyore days, and I still think about my mom every time. My G is still gratitude. I think my P is now perspective, and my I'm gonna say is Invest. Invest in yourself. So this can go along with the advocating for yourself too. But I think even, gosh, even looking at the surgeries I've had, I've had to look at it as an investment into my future self. Everything I'm doing is investing to make tomorrow better, to make next year better, to make 10 years from now better. And I have a hard time planning 10 years in the future. I think trauma kind of takes that away from you when your whole world just gets up-ended. But I think everything I'm doing, surgery, health, nutrition, exercise, whatever, is to invest in myself so that I can continue what I'm doing for as long as possible. I love that so much.

Erin 1:04:54

That is a beautiful perspective on what it looks like to invest in yourself. That's that's really powerful. Because we all know too then, you know, like you can't pour from an empty cup, right? And so it's important to take care of ourselves so that you can care for other people, right? And so thanks for sharing that. That's fun.

Gini Thomas 1:05:18

I grew a little bit in that way this last year, I think. Trying to see that patience as an investment, Mina.

Kellie 1:05:25

Yeah, good for you, Gini. Any closing thoughts as we kind of wrap up our one-year revisit conversation and look forward to next year's discussion. We have so many things to look forward to.

Gini Thomas 1:05:40

And I said it's hard for me to think into the future, but man, how much fun is it gonna be to have a 10 year P-I-G reunion?

Kellie 1:05:46

Right?

Speaker 3 1:05:47

So fun. That's gonna be really fun. Let's start investing in that now. Yes. Yes, we are right this moment. I just continue to be blown away by the stories that y'all share. The stories that find you guys, like talking about a small world and how things all pull together. Yeah, I'm I'm blown away. So keep doing it because I need it. And I know many other people need it as well. So thank you for the work that you're doing. Please, please, please keep doing it.

Erin 1:06:20

Wow. Thank you so much. You are always so kind and so encouraging and so supportive. And we are so blessed to have you in our corner and as part of our PIG family. I just feel so grateful for you. My life just is so much better with you in it.

Gini Thomas 1:06:41

And likewise, ladies. Likewise. Now y'all gotta come visit Alabama.

Erin 1:06:46

Yes. Thank you so much for joining us again today. I'm really, really excited about everything that's going on in your life and your future. And I can't wait to follow that trip to Ethiopia, and we will absolutely have you back to share all of those stories and experiences.

Gini Thomas 1:07:06

Can't wait. It's gonna be a good one.

Erin 1:07:08

Yeah, that's awesome.

Kellie 1:07:33

Hearing the stories of others helps us create a more meaningful connection to our own. We hope today's conversation offered you insight, encouragement, or even just a moment to pause and reflect on the story you're living and the legacy you're creating.

Erin 1:07:47

If something in this episode moved you, please consider sharing it with someone you love. A small share can make a big impact. You can also join us on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn and connect further at The P-I-Gpodcast.com.

Kellie 1:08:02

And if you're enjoying this podcast, one of the most meaningful ways you can support us is by leaving a five-star rating, writing a short review, or simply letting us know your thoughts. Your feedback helps us reach others and reminds us why we do this work.

Erin 1:08:17

Because The P-I-G isn't just a podcast. It's a place to remember that even in the midst of grief, life goes on, resilience matters, and love never leaves. Thanks for being on this journey with us. Until next time, hogs and kisses everyone.