Testimonials
Today's testimony is about a 15-yr old girl who was in a coma for 6-months It's hard to imagine that 6 yrs ago a drunk driver almost destroyed the Jordan family. Earlier that day––their son, Billy, won a baseball tournament and their daughter Wendy sang in her first choir concert at their church. The family was on their way home, when a speeding truck crossed over into their lane of traffic. Wendy's Mom, said "Less than a mile from our home we were hit by a drunk driver who was going 80 miles an hour and everything went black. And we were all knocked out. "Billy, Wendy's little brother, was the first one to come to, he recalls, "I remember smelling something like burnt rubber, It was like an awful smell. And I still remember that to this day."
Their mother & Father, were pinned in the front seats. Her mom was the next one to regain consciousness. Her mom said, "I just wanted to hold my kids and hug them and I could not reach them. I could not touch them. My husband and I just prayed, Lord Jesus, come to our rescue." Emergency workers told them that the wreck was catastrophic. Her mother said, "The man who hit us, hit us so hard his engine fell out in the middle of the road and then his pickup truck went over top of our van." The EMT's rushed to save Wendy, the energetic 15-year-old straight a school student began the fight of her life. "They got Wendy out first," her mother recalls, "because they knew she was the most injured. And it didn't take that long, & they were just trying to get a pulse & they weren't sure she was alive.
Wendy was flown by helicopter to a trauma hospital and her parents and brother were sent to different hospitals. In the midst of the chaos––word got out quickly for people to pray. Her husband recalls, "News went out through the company where I worked, & everybody was asked to pray for healing for our family." People responded and began praying around the clock! At first, the doctor said Wendy wouldn't live through the night. And then if she did live through the night, she'd probably never wake up. And she'd be like a vegetable, her mom said I just knew in my heart, that if Wendy was going to live through that night, it was going to be by the power of prayer." & because of prayer Wendy did make it through the night, but laid in a coma for 6-long months. One by one her other family members were released from the hospital and gathered at her bedside every day to pray.
& one morning Wendy finally woke up & emerged from the coma," her mom said, "with such an extensive brain injury she had to relearn everything, and then the therapist would come in by her bedside and they'd say, Wendy, raise your right arm, but she could not even follow a verbal command. "Wendy's battle was far from over. & As her parents prayed for God to heal their daughter, they began to see improvements every day. Her mother said At each stage we just prayed and begged God to do more. We were begging God that she'd be able to talk clearly, we were begging God that she'd be able to walk. "For years Wendy fought hard to regain her mobility and communication skills, & now, six years after the accident, Wendy is completely healed, she said, after the accident, I had to relearn how to do so many different things. How to read, how to write,
how to get dressed, how to brush my teeth, how to swallow water, everything that I could do on a daily basis before the accident. I'd forgotten how to do all of it. But it was during this time, that I saw the Lord pouring out his spirit on my life. "He promises to meet you at the point of your need and to help carry you every day. God has been so good to me through this accident. & I thank him for being my stronghold." I think the biggest blessing is just how God uses you, to make a difference in the world. And how what Satan intended for evil, God is using for good."
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It was a hot day in Huston, Texas, & Baseball practice was in full swing. 16-year-old Michael Donovan had just run to second base, when suddenly, he collapsed. His father Donald, who was also his coach, stood just steps away. "I glanced over towards shortstop for no apparent reason, was just looking around the bases, and I noticed Michael lying on the field there motionless,"
Spectators thought Michael had fainted from the heat. But one of the player's moms, who was a nurse, walked over to check out the situation. Donald said "He's lying on the ground there, and she began to do mouth to mouth resuscitation & told me to do chest compressions. Michael's heart had stopped beating, & many people, including his brothers, started praying.
"My sons were kneeling there on the baseball field around him, crying out to the Lord to heal Michael" 'Bring him back, Lord, bring him back.' The paramedics arrived about 10 minutes later
And they started giving him, electric shocks, The first shock, there's no response. A second shock, there's no response. So on the third shock, I think a heartbeat of about 30 beats per minute, and they instantly put him in the ambulance and he was rushed to the hospital. It was a 28-minute period of time there, that he had no oxygen. "Michael's mother, Vera, met them at the emergency room. She says, "I'm a mother of seven. Will I be a mom of six? Will I be the mom whose son collapsed and died? 'The doctors prepared Donald and Vera for the worst.
20-minutes without breathing," Michael says. "There are no statistics past 20 minutes of CPR in an out of hospital cardiac arrest. If you survive at the 20-minute mark, you're a vegetable. You're sustained with life support and you may or may not go home. It was the next day after he was in the intensive care that a neurologist came by. Her story was actually, we'll believe that God can do something, but you need to know that he has very little chance at all to have a brain. It's basically impossible that someone could go this long without oxygen and their brain ever function."
Donald & Vera called a there church to pray & people across the city prayed around the clock for their son. "Every three hours we got to go in to the ICU. I anointed him with oil every time I went back there. 'Lord give him life. We speak life into this boy's body, into our son's body. 'Soon they began seeing answers to their prayers.
"After 30 hours of being unconscious, Michael woke up and he looked at us," Vera said. "At first his eyes did not track us. He was just kind of glazed." At that 40-hour mark was a time when we were back there and his eyes were open," Donald said. "He actually focused on me, because I would go in and I would get directly over his face, and I would say, 'Michael,' because as a father, I wanted him to know his dad's here. So I finally said, 'Michael, if you hear me at all, smile at me or something.' He attempted a smile, and his mom and I just, wept at the joy that Michael was still alive
Within days of the incident, Michael began to improve. Donald said, "On day three, they allowed him to try to walk in the ICU there. He walked about 10 steps around in a circle and came back down. The doctors thought that was incredible."
We were seeing him do things that the doctor said he couldn't do for months or years or maybe never. "Vera said, by day five, all the tubes were out, he was totally unhooked. He walked around the cardiac care unit, and the doctors couldn't believe that on day five, after such an event, that he was walking around."
On day 10, Michael went home." I believe that Michael was not only spared the effects of not breathing for 28 minutes," Donald says, "but he was healed of whatever caused it. So it was like two miracles, because they could find absolutely nothing wrong with him. "Within six months, Michael returned to playing baseball and basketball.
The Dr. said, "Even the people that make it out of the hospital, some of them have neurological damage. They're never quite the same after that, but to see Michael playing baseball again, it's just a miracle, I believe that God heard our prayers and healed our son. Donald said, "Through this experience, I learned how precious life is, & that God is in charge and he does care. "There are moments where my heart returns to the miracle and I see the gift that God gave us when He returned Michael back to us, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the Lord. His is good & prayer changes things."