A few years back, retired Pastor Don Lawrence of Christ Church asked me to come by so he could record a video of me sharing a story about a miracle in my life. This was a series on miracles he was presenting to the congregation.
This is Easter week, when we celebrate the miracle of Christ rising from the dead. I would like to share a story of the miracle I experienced in my life nearly 20 years ago.
I was leaving on a “guys’ trip” to Los Angeles. The day before leaving I had a few friends over. My house at the time had a loft. Instead of climbing down the ladder from the loft I decided to jump off and the class ring I was wearing at the time got hooked on something.
I first thought I had broken my finger when I got up and looked down, but my finger was split wide open. I was in shock of what I was seeing. My friend, Jason, who at the time was doing medical studies, was amazed. He rushed me to the sink where I placed my finger under running water.
Jason said “let’s get you to a doctor.” I said no. I said, “We have a trip tomorrow, and I don’t want to ruin the chance of going so wrap it up and it will heal on its own.” Three hours went by and my finger was throbbing, and the pain was unbearable. I told Jason to “get me to a doctor.”
We arrived and the doctor took off the bandage. I could hardly see my ring. My finger had swelled up so badly that the ring was barely visible. They went right in and cut the ring off and stitched my finger up. He said it would take time to heal but if I was going to California, stay out of the water.
While in California I started to feel a pain I will never forget. The pain lasted for a good few hours the day before coming home. I had a follow-up doctor’s appointment the day after we got back. On the way home I was not experiencing any pain at all, so I thought my finger was just healing from a really bad accident. This was not the case.
The doctor unwrapped my finger. He had a shocked look on his face. He turned to me and said “I am so sorry.” I looked down to see my finger was completely black, and it was dead.
I was sent to a hand specialist who looked at it and said my finger had to come off. I was really upset and turned to my father and said, “I don’t want my finger taken off.” The hand specialist said “How many fingers does Mickey Mouse have?” I said, “Five, why?” His response was “No, he has four, and my point is nobody will know after your surgery”.
I was still in shock. He looked at me and said he would give me two weeks but, after that, he would need to take it off if there were no signs of life. I asked how I would know if my finger was alive. His reponse was, “You will know.”
Two weeks went by and nothing happened. I lay in bed the night before going to the doctor thinking about the surgery.
This is when I experienced a strange feeling. I felt something in my hand. The feeling was like getting a hand massage. This went on for hours. I woke up in the morning, looked down, and I saw blood everywhere.
I rushed in my father’s room to show him and then we rushed to the doctor with hope. The doctor unwrapped the bandage and said “Wow, this is a miracle.” My finger was alive and the doctor told me that he had never seen anything like it.
I started rehab for my finger, which consisted of skin grafting and surgery.
I recall the doctor saying that I had only a 10 percent chance or less for my finger to come back to life. My father turned to him and told him he prayed for me that night. My father had his prayers answered and I told him I had felt something.
It may be a huge coincidence that my finger came to life hours before it was going to be removed. What I felt that night was blood rushing into my finger. I would like to think it was an angel holding my hand and massaging the life back in after hearing my father pray.
Miracles do happen. I have 10 fingers and, to me, that is a miracle in itself. Happy Easter.
