Introduction
When tragedy struck Irene's life in the form of a head-on collision, breaking almost every major bone in her body, she would not have recovered except for God's amazing grace. I know Irene personally. I watched her slow recovery and rejoiced as she carefully stepped her way back down the aisle of my church on that miraculous Sunday morning many months after the accident.This account is one of our featured testimonies from you, the members and visitors of this site. Each story reveals a life transformed by Christian faith. If your relationship with God has made a significant difference in your life, we would like to hear about it. Submit your testimony by filling out this Submission Form.
Irene's Amazing Grace - From Tragedy to Triumph
On September 26, 2002, I went to work just like usual. I had no clue that by 5:15 that afternoon I would have twelve broken bones and would be air-lifted to a hospital I had never seen. It was just two days before my birthday. My daughter Anna and I were en route from Tampa to Ocala to hear Christian comedian Mary Krulikowski. We never made it to the event; instead, while Anna was helicoptered to the hospital, I was cut out of the car and prepared for the next flight.My busy life was halted and changed in a way I never imagined possible. Every day for 24 years I had worked alongside my husband, Jim, in our printing/publishing business. Before that I had taught school for eight years. With a minister father, I grew up active in the church - teaching classes, singing in choir, directing choirs, speaking, etc.
More recently, I had been involved in home fellowships, Bible study, volunteering in the bookstore, singing in choir, Angel Tree ministry, and much more. My love for music spread to interpretation with line dancing, which I did on a weekly basis. I also walked three miles every morning around our almost-back-yard lake.
In addition to these interests, I mothered our four children and shouldered many household demands. I also enjoyed our three grandsons, and accompanied Jim on business trips throughout the country. Sometimes this included a ride in an ultralight airplane when we were at a fly-in event. When I could squeeze it in, I dared to clean our house and do such things as move furniture.
Battered from All Sides
Leaving St. Petersburg for Tampa that September day, I enjoyed the beautiful weather as I drove. But when I picked up Anna and we dropped her two boys at the babysitter, a huge downpour greeted us as we ran out to the car. We belted ourselves in and carefully took off. My last memory is our stop at the traffic light just before getting onto I-75. Somehow the Lord took my memory all the way back to that place.Though I recall nothing at all, I learned from Anna and the accident report that we were hemmed in by traffic so that we had no place to go when a GMC Yukon came straight toward us and hit us head-on. Apparently, he hydroplaned from the opposite side of the interstate and crossed over 200 feet of the median to where we were traveling. The car behind us had no choice but to hit us. We were battered from all sides.
Anna tells me she looked over at me and didn't see any movement. My head was completely engulfed in the airbag. She was sure I was dead. Eventually she heard me moaning. All the traffic in the northbound lanes had been forced to stop. Anna handed her voice-sensitive cell phone to a lady and told her to say, "Call Dad's cell."
He Stood There in Shock
When Jim got home from work, he realized his cell phone was off all day. He decided to check it for any messages. He heard, "Your wife and daughter have been in a serious automobile accident on I-75." That was the complete message. He stood there in shock and had all kinds of images about our condition.Immediately, Jim called the Florida Highway Patrol to learn more about us. While he was on hold, our home phone rang with personnel from St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa telling him to get to the hospital as soon as possible. He was given no specifics, only the fact that we had both been air-lifted. That was enough to let him know our conditions were serious. He called our Bible study leader, Scott Tunkus, who insisted on driving him to the hospital. Jim grabbed my address book and began calling family and friends to request prayers even though he knew nothing about our status.
"When we arrived, they ushered me into a private room," Jim said, "so a hospital representative and the doctor could talk to me. That was scary. The initial report was that Anna was not seriously injured. Irene suffered serious injuries and was having x-rays and various tests to determine their severity. It seemed like a lifetime to me till they let me see her in the emergency room. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. She was laying there half conscious. I could tell she was in excruciating pain. She was crying out to God, saying, 'Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.' I don't think she realized I was there."
