NEW RIVER, Arizona — Jorden Schoen has always been tough. At the beginning of 2020, the East Coast native was playing hockey for the Junior Coyotes at 17 years old.
"The kid is a beast," laughed his mom, Sharyn Schoen.
But in May 2020 came a harrowing face-off he never could have predicted. Over Memorial Day weekend, Jorden was out riding a four-wheeler when he plummeted into a mineshaft near New River. His family said he crashed more than 50 feet underground - the four-wheeler landed on top of him.
"I actually don't remember the accident due to my brain injury," Jorden shared. "Which definitely saved me because why would I want to remember it?"
His mom Sharyn and dad Van Schoen, who is a first responder himself, got the news across the country at their home in Florida.
"Being on the other side of it when it's your own kid is just like nothing else," his mom shared.
Only one rescuer fit into the mineshaft, but that was enough to pull Jorden to safety. His father was on the first flight out the next morning and remembered seeing Jorden before going into his first surgery.
"I got an opportunity to, you know, whisper in his ear that I was there and that I loved him and that everything will be okay," his father remembered.
Jorden stayed at the hospital for more than a week.
"He called me over to the side of his bed and he whispered in my ear," his dad shared. "It still gives me shivers. But he said, 'Dad, I'm going to come back better than I was before.'"
Jorden said his injuries were critical, including brain bleeding, loss of memory, broken bones and a foot that needed to be reconstructed.
"I couldn't have conversations," Jorden shared. "Remember what I said about like two minutes later. I didn’t know the alphabet."
His parents and younger brother shifted their lives to help him recover. At the time of the accident, Jorden was living with a host family while he played hockey.
His mother wound up moving into that house with them for a few months before his family moved on to rentals or hotels. The traveling wasn't easy with COVID-19 and for months, Jorden couldn't ride in a car or go on a plane.
Jorden's support system continued to grow. His family and girlfriend helped through treatment. He worked with a speech therapist and occupational therapist in Phoenix. And he got to a point where he could start relearning how to walk.
"I was in so much pain I couldn't - I couldn't breathe without being in pain," Jorden said. "There was just not a single second in the day there wasn't just an excruciating pain somewhere in my body."
But Jorden’s resolve and support system propelled him forward, pushing him to walk again and talk again.
"I just couldn't live like that anymore," he said. "And it just made me want to work harder and harder."
Almost six months after the accident, Jorden was able to fly home to Florida. He graduated high school in 2021 and came back to Arizona to meet some of the heroes from his accident, including Shane Burdick, who his family said was the lone rescuer able to go into the mineshaft and pull Jorden to safety.
"It was a horrible experience," Van Schoen said. "But we realized what the true value of the what the people are and just how good people can be."
Despite it all, his time in Arizona isn’t over yet. The beast is now a Sun Devil who just finished his freshman year at ASU. He's studying business financial planning and hopes to build a non-profit to help first responders with rescues like his.
"And my life could have been stripped away in seconds," Jorden said. "But they helped and I'm alive, breathing and living life now."
One big takeaway Jorden’s family wants to share: wear your helmet.
Doctors told Jorden's family that he wouldn’t have survived without one.
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12 News YouTube channel. Subscribe today.