PHOENIX — Lieutenant Jordan Lo has wanted to be a fighter pilot since he was nine years old. In 2017, He was just days away from his first solo flight in naval flight school when he was hit by a drunk driver while walking across the street. Now, six years later, the Valley native is still fighting to fly.
"I believe that the one thing that you can control that anybody can control based off any situation, condition is, you can get up," Lo says. "You can fight. You can keep swinging. You can keep reaching for what you want, and no one can deny that from you, and that's been the drive this entire time. It has made me who I am today."
He tells us he doesn't remember anything about the accident.
"Everything was going according to plan," says Lo. "I just graduated college. Just commissioned in Newport, Rhode Island, in the Navy. Just checked into flight school in Pensacola with some of the other guys and I took another step and three days later I remember waking up realizing I was in the hospital."
He was in critical condition for three days. Doctors told his parents they were going to have to make the decision to pull the plug unless Jordan gave them a sign and boy did, he give them a sign.
The nurse asked him, "Jordan if you can hear me give me the bird."
That's when Jordan flipped her off and the doctors knew he was alive.
"When I went back to Baptist, that one time I actually met Sybil, the nurse who asked me to flip the bird to then save my life," Lo says. "And I asked her 'was it a twitch? Was it a flicker' and she's like 'Oh no, no, no, it was like a full-on bird like he's done this many times before.' and I said I might have done it once or twice."
After six years of recovery, his focus to live out his dream job has not faded. That's why Jordan's been given the call sign 'Phoenix,' and it's not only because of his Valley roots.
"Phoenix is to rise from the ashes," Lo tells ABC15. "It is to overcome all of the obstacles, all the challenges that gave your life a small detour."
He is now running when he was told he could never walk again. He trains daily, climbing new heights. All with the focus to fly again and represent his country as a pilot in the United States Navy.
He has this message for anyone else who's struggling and trying to reach a goal:
"Keep fighting, keep pushing. Know that there are going to be tough days. Know that there will be good days. Feed off of those good days and know that battling through the tough days will get you to those victories."
Right now, Lo is working on better times for his physical standards testing. Once he hits those, he will be able to apply for a waiver to get back into flight school.