Dave’s GodWink: Part 2
Cindy arrived at the hospital, and the doctor pulled her into a small room. It was the kind of room they only take you into to tell you that someone has died, and Cindy immediately knew something was horribly wrong.
“Cindy, we have your husband and we have been working hard at trying to save him. But, Dave is bad. He came to us with no heartbeat and no pulse. He had already turned black from lack of oxygen. We gave him a shot of adrenaline to get his heart beating again. We’ve intubated him and he is on a ventilator to help him breathe. We are looking to see if Dave has had a heart attack or a brain bleed, but we aren’t sure what’s happening right now. We aren’t sure why he stopped breathing. The next 48 hours will be crucial for Dave to survive but things do not look good.”
Cindy’s mind could almost not comprehend all the information
she had just been told. She fell apart
crying. How could this happen? He was just fine this morning when he left
for work. How God?
Within the next 48 hours, Dave went through a cooling down process where his body was forced to be 93 degrees. This was important so his heart could rest and his brain would not swell. Dave was placed in a drug-induced coma and paralyzed. Cindy continued to pray for a miracle. The cardiologist came and spoke to Cindy and told her if he makes it, they honestly did not know what quality of life Dave would have. Dave had suffered a severe case of arrythmia when his heart had stopped which is called a cardiac death episode. The statistics of recovering from something like this was near impossible.
The next four days looked hopeless, but Cindy knew her hope was not in the doctors. Her hope was in God. She continued to pray and asked others all over the United States to pray. They needed to pray like they had never prayed before, because Dave needed a miracle to live.
Then, finally a ray of hope, Dave finally began to breathe on his own.
When the cooling process was finished, they began to warm Dave up. It was time for him to wake up, but Dave did not wake up. The Neurologist came to speak with Cindy and told her, that if Dave did make it, he would never be anything but in a vegetative state. Cindy finally told the doctors,
“I can’t go on what you see or feel. I am standing on God’s word, and if you have something negative to say, I want you to tell me outside the room. I only want positive things spoke in Dave’s room. I want to speak life.”
Cindy refused to give up hope. She refused to give up faith. She told herself over and over, “I have to walk by faith.”
Thirteen days passed, and a case manager came to speak with Cindy about discussing a DNR. Cindy knew she could not sign it. She had to continue walking by faith. Day after day went by and things did not get better. Thanksgiving passed, and the doctor told Cindy once again, “He’ll never be more than a vegetable.” Cindy told the doctor, “But, my God can do a miracle.”
For sixteen days, he lay there. He never spoke, and he never opened his eyes.
The doctors were convinced that Dave was a hopeless case.
Twenty days passed in the ICU with small improvements medically. His vent was removed, he could open his eyes, and he tried to speak. Yet, hopefulness was still not in the doctor’s reports. Dave was moved to the 3rd floor where he stayed for another 19 days.
Now, thirty-nine days had passed, and Cindy was still begging God for a miracle. Yet, the hospital was saying the insurance would no longer pay for Dave to stay. She had to decide on what to do.
Dave was placed in a nursing home where he stayed a week,
but then quickly landed back into the hospital for another ten days. Life was no longer the same. Looking at Dave was like looking at a stranger. He wasn’t there. It had been 56 days since he fell dead, and
for 56 days Cindy had prayed for a miracle.
She was determined to not give up hope.
On New Year’s Day, she decided to go to church. She went up to the front for prayer for
Dave. The pastor and the church began to
pray. They began to speak LIFE on Dave’s
behalf in their prayers. Service ended,
and Cindy drove back to the hospital.
All the while driving, she reminded herself of the prayers and the words
spoken. She had to keep clinging on to
hope. Dave was the love of her life, and
she refused to let him go. She could not
bear the thought of living without him.
Finally, she reached the hospital and made it to Dave’s room. She walked into the room and he looked at her and began to TALK and he WOULD NOT STOP! It was Dave! The nurses called the cardiologist, the neurologist, and all the other doctors to see this miracle! It was GOD at work! It was a GodWink!
Dave however could not immediately leave the hospital. He still had more obstacles to overcome. This would be a long road of recovery. Days were going by, and finally Cindy decided God would complete the miracle He had begun at home.
So, after 97 days of hospital and nursing home stays, on Valentine’s Day, Cindy signed Dave out of the hospital and took him home! Although life was not completely back to normal, Cindy believed it was time to move forward. What man said was impossible, what Doctors said was hopeless, and what looked like would never happened, God completely made possible, gave hope, and restored life!
Have you been praying for a miracle? While visiting with Cindy to write down Dave’s GodWink story, she said something to me that I will never forget. “What if you are just one prayer away from your answer? You just gotta keep praying.” All the time she waited for God to do the impossible, she had to keep praying and believing that God was not done with Dave yet. She couldn’t give up and she didn’t give up. Dave has gone from not speaking and being lifeless to preaching and teaching again! It is an unexplainable GodWink…that moment in time when only credit can be given to God.
If you would be interested in having Dave come speak at your church, you may contact Cindy at 870-210-1366.
Galatians 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
GodWinks: the unexplainable moment in life when it can only be God!
