i don t believe in random chance. i know i go against the scientists on this. i believe that my life was spared for a reason either i wanted or something higher power than me wanted. george, turn around and wave goodbye. it was early monday morning, a group of tourists boarded a plane after a weekend of gambling, skiing and watching the super bowl in reno. the plane took off, but within minutes it had crashed. 17-year-old george lamson jr., he was thrown from the plane, but miraculously, he was able to walk away.
right over here. okay, that s right behind that buffet bulkhead. yes, sir. you couldn t see any seats in front of you. you could just see a bulkhead. is that correct? yes, sir. george jr. has spent a decade trying to make sense out of that january night in reno. there s people in all walks of life that have suffered loss like i have. and it s just they don t get any recognition for it. i think what makes me different is that when this tragedy struck, i was under the spotlight by media, by everybody in my town. everybody knew who i was. and it s a good feeling to have people know who you are and care. but when it stopped, when people don t remember who you are, it s a very big vacuum.
i think he feels more happy. he s not holding in anymore, you know? george, one of the other sole survivors is coming over. i haven t met him yet, and anticipating that, just to see if we have any differences, any opinions. just what s on his mind, what s on my mind. i m really hoping the olympic thing happens. i don t care if it s on the moon. it s almost a job-type feeling biblical wise. everything was taken from him,
there s no question about it. well, you are of all the gamblers on that plane, sir, you are the luckiest. absolutely. in reno, the world began to wonder at the luck and poise of 17-year-old george lamson jr. of st. paul. he lost his father in the debris of the old lockheed airliner, tossed clear of the fireball still strapped in his seat. the senior assumed the blessing and burden of being the only survivor. so i kicked the wall while we hit the ground. so i was just sliding through all this fire and debris. george s demeanor when he first came out, when we first were seeing him in the hospital bed and later when he came out in the wheelchair, he was sort of surprised to see everybody there. there was this sort of excitement. remember he was 17. all of a sudden all these people are there with all these cameras and they re all for him. and we were kind of conscious of that. and yet we knew he had been through this horrific accident. when the images of that moment
and that hurt a lot. i would sleep a lot. and i would eat a lot, too. i mean, i d do everything i could not to think about what was going on in front of me. those amazing hands of george lamson. march of that year, i dropped out of college. now you see it. ten years from now, i ll be jamming on stage. this is like 1987. i was driving like 150 miles per hour on this particular curve. and it was just really i don t know why i did that. i just liked the thrill of being on the edge of death. and i felt like maybe i m being protected. and i wanted to see if it was really true. received some settlement money