The 2015 documentary Finders Keepers tellsthe story of John Wood and his efforts to reclaim the leghe lost in the Cessna plane crash that took his father’s life. Before losing his leg, Wood struggled with an oxycontin dependency, which was only heightened during his grief and recovery period. His substance usewas ongoing when a man named ShannonWhisnant discovered Wood's amputated leg in an old grill he'd purchased from a repossessed storage unit.Though Wood eventually regainedcontrol of his life and his leg, the arduous journey he endured sparked international media attention, and led him to give back to his community.
Article ImagePrior to the events of Finders Keepers, John Wood lived a fairly ordinary, albeit troubled, life in North Carolina. He suffered a freak accident when the engine went out while he and his father weretaking a joyridein their small plane. Doctors had to amputate Wood’s leg and his father did not survive. In memoryof his father, Wood asked if he could keep the part of hisleg that had beenremoved. He assumed they would give him the bone; however, he was surprised to receive the entire thingwith skin and muscle still intact. With no way to store theleg, Wood first refrigerated it at a local Hardee's before saving it through his own mummification techniques.
Eventually, Wood left his leg in his storage unit, but he was so grief-stricken over the loss of his father and the trauma of the accident that he fell deeper into a substance dependency and couldn't keep up with his finances. Wood'sstorage unit and all of itspossessions were later sold at auction,including a barbecue grill that he used to storehis mummified leg.
Article ImageThe barbecue grill was sold toShannon Whisnant, who was surprised to find the leg within his new cooking tool.Rather than return the appendage to its rightful owner,he madeit into alocal tourist attraction. Whisnat charged people to see the leg in person, referring to himself as the "Foot Man" and selling shirts to further his brand.
When Wood heard what was happening, he asked for his leg back, but Whisnant was unrelenting in his insistence that the leg belonged to him. Wood felt that Whisnant was exploiting his leg asa "freak show,"and that regardless of whether it was still attached to him, he should have control over what happensto his own body.The main dispute between Wood and Whisnant, which is highlighted in Finders Keepers, isthat Wood didn't want to use his leg for publicity,while Whisnant wantedto make money off of the situation.
Article ImageAfter a tumultuous back and forth between the two men that saw them turned into local media sensations, they settled their dispute on anepisode of Judge Mathis, with Wood regaining custody of his leg.
Though the contention between Wood and Whisnet was unexpected and rather strange, Woodstarted thelong and difficult path to recovery after acquiring ownership of his leg. Though Woodhas hadhis ups and downs, the events have helpedhim regain perspective. With the help of his friends, family, and Warner Bros.,he's managed to get himself on the straight and narrow. Since the custody battle made it to Judge Mathis, Warner Bros. sent him toone of the top five treatment centers in the country, calledRidgeview Institute in Atlanta, and Wood sobered up.
According to the directors of Finders Keepers, Wood has stayed clean and he's married. Since the documentary made waves in 2015, both Wood and Whisnant have appeared in several urban legend TV episodes, and Wood has performed charity work at the Woodford Landfill in North Carolina as a recyclables organizer.
Wood told The Charlotte Observer that he got into charity work because he felt Finders Keepers might have convinced some viewers hewas pushing a bizarre Southern stereotype, and he wanted to prove he is more than just someguy who got into a fight over his amputated leg. It’s important to Wood that he gives back to his community, and that his reputation extends beyond this strange scenario.
As for the leg itself,Wood moved it from the bottom of a golf bag and into his closet before finally encasing it in epoxy as a memorial to his father, fulfilling Wood's initial intentions ofkeeping the leg.To top things off, Wood won the lottery in 2015. He told The New York Times, "It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was enough to say, 'Hey, nice one, I see what you're doing here,'Like somebody above is really having fun with this story."
