April is the month I notice things happening in spiritual attacks, but they can happen at any time. This is not to say that it will keep happening, as I am learning to fight ahead, but that it has happened in the past this way. I can fight ahead because God bottles up our prayers for later in gold bottles. Someone I know now lived by a lady who accidently hit the building at my work. The driver has since passed away. I learned about this a few months ago, it escaped my mind, and recently became reminded of it. This is how this message became the writing for the week.
How it began…
In 2009, I had just arrived at work. I came in and was talking to my co-workers about what we needed to do for the rest of the shift. They were walking to the office, I believe they were in the office, and I went to stand behind the register to grab a drink of my soda, I picked up Dr. Pepper that day. I had started taking a sip, and before I knew it, I heard a crash. It sounded like thunder, I tensed my shoulders. An SUV hit the outside of the building and put a hole in the brick. It was amazing, because there was not a dent in the vehicle, just a scratch. The air bags didn’t deploy, which kept the driver safe.
More on what happened…
The impact caused the shelving unit to fall on me and thrusted me forward. I hit my head on the magazine rack. It pushed my glasses into my nose, my straw into my lip, and some other cuts on the outer part of my nose. It all happened so fast. I might have blacked out between being hit and flinging forward, but I’m not fully sure. While in the possible black out, which may have also simply been closing my eyes, I felt 4 sets of hands on my back 2 on each side. Keep in mind, there was no one standing behind me in the form of a human being.
A review…
In the blink of an eye. One minute, I was standing and sipping on a straw. The next minute, I’m leaning over the counter trapped. (Prepare for grossness…) While stuck, I felt a gush of fluid flood my nose. My thoughts went to emergency mode; when you have a nosebleed, keep your head forward and put pressure on it to slow the bleeding. This is what they told me in grade school. I took my hand and placed it on my nose to apply the pressure needed. While that is happening, my co-worker is calling 9-1-1.
Behind the scenes…
He was on the phone with them and they said to leave the scene as is until they could get there and assess the situation. The reasoning behind this is if they move it, it could become worse. Just as they said this, another co-worker was wanting to work on pushing the shelving unit off me and help. I told them that I can breathe, they said to leave it, and that we can wait till they get here. The fire truck and ambulance arrived in what only seemed to be 5 to15 minutes.
4 Co-workers and me…
While we were waiting for the emergency team to arrive, a third co-worker went back in the aisle, grabbed a Ziplock bag, and put ice in it from the cooler. Thank you, God, that we sold bags of ice. I applied this to my nose to slow the bleeding. All that we could do was done, and we awaited help. This makes me appreciate emergency vehicles and be respectful to their need to get to places quickly. They arrived, came in swiftly, and assessed the situation. There were more than one set of people working together on the task at hand.
Help arrived…
The firemen began to move the shelving unit off me, but it was not quite right. They quickly changed direction, moving in sync as one mind, and were able to move it safely off with no further issues. It was amazing. I was told that they would put me on a stretcher board and carry me out. They put the board behind my back and Velcro me in. They also placed me in a neck brace as a precaution. With the rubble on the ground, this made me nervous. This was like a trust fall moment, with strangers. I began to pray.
Careful for others…
There was a small misstep, but they caught themselves quickly and I remained level as they carried me to the gurney. Afterwards, they wheeled me out to the ambulance. I held a thumbs up to my manager, so she wouldn’t worry about me too much. It was a miracle more people weren’t injured. There was the SUV, it hit the building, and I was on the other side of brick and a metal shelving unit, with 2 windows breaking above my head. I felt that the shelving kept the glass off me for the most part.
Back at the house…
With all this going on, they tried to contact my husband. The kids, ages 2 and 4, had unplugged the land line phone. This caused it to take a bit longer for them to get ahold of him. I believe he called his parents to have them watch the kids so he could come to help me further. Only 2 days prior, my son was in the ambulance and on his way to the hospital. Now, it was my turn. The month before, my husband had just lost his job. There we were, hit with 3 attacks at the same time. But God.
God’s provision…
God sent His angels to protect and cover my son. Then, He sent angels to come cover me. He gave someone words to pray for my situation in every way before it took place. The prayers manifested into answers at that exact time. I had angelic hands on me between me and the shelving unit. That unit kept the glass off me. My hips aligned with the counter, to where I bent over without it hitting any major organs or bones. So many good gifts from God.
It could have been worse…
There were other co-workers shorter than me, who would have been injured worse in that situation. If I had been down any further, this other metal file holder would have gone into my chest and it would be more dire. So much covering I can think of and probably some I don’t even know about. The impact of the car hitting the building sent our nicotine gum boxes halfway through the store. Cigarettes and all were halfway between the front of the store and pharmacy. This was a smaller building, there were two sets of aisles in our store. One in the front starting with cards, then you go back and there’s food and other items.
Warning on more gory details…
My nose had bled so much, it was all over the candy to the bottom. They threw it all out, probably by scanning it to get credit for damaged goods. I was glad I didn’t have to do the clean-up of that, but at the same time, felt bad that they had to. They kept track of my vitals in the ambulance with the sirens going. Since all was good, they were able to drive with the sirens off the rest of the way and stop at lights. I didn’t know that they turned them off for non-emergencies till this time. The more you know.
Which hospital?
They were deciding which hospital to take me to on the way. I believe that they ended up taking me to the least crowded. Everywhere was busy. They rolled me in, left me in the hallway, and I awaited a room. I feel the wait time was around 30 minutes. The next step to take place was a cat scan. They needed to be sure if any injuries or brain bleeds were occurring, for my safety and workers comp protocol. My husband was there before the scan took place.
While at the hospital…
After it was complete, they awaited the results and soon knew it was safe to take off my neck brace. While in the hospital, waiting for the scan, I received a call from my mom. She told me that my grandparents called to let them know they saw me on the news. They turned on their tv and saw me being carried out on a stretcher. What a way to find out your kid is injured. I let her know that they were getting ready to discharge me soon, that night, from the hospital. One last note, the news said I was not going to be released till the following day. With this, be advised that the news doesn’t always give good intel. Anything they give you need to fact check. My family could have been left to worry about me all night if they weren’t able talk to me.
In conclusion…
I know in high school kids would say 4/20 and laugh. This date represents a whole new meaning for me. I knew God was trying to tell me something, but I wasn’t sure what. I ended up spending 6 months off work, relying on worker’s comp income. There were so many appointments to attend while off work. I did physical therapy 3 times a week amongst other appointments with and for the lawyer. You do this with 66% of your income coming in from work while you are off. Don’t worry, they will have you pay this income back after receiving your settlement in court. I never drank Dr. Pepper again. Regardless of all that, God came in and provided us a way through this storm. God can pull you through, too.