Miracles

Originally posted 9/20/2013, re-dated now to make posts fit chronologically.

If you missed what happened, read The Accident.

Our 27 pound toddler was run over by a 4,000 pound mini-van. It went across her abdomen, chest, and head. Every vital organ. And she is alive! It makes me sick just to read that first sentence, but I feel that to thank God for this miracle, I need to testify of His power, because I have seen it. I know that every story like this does not have this outcome, and I wrestle with that fact. However, Lissy apparently has reasons why her earthly mission is not yet finished, and her experience is a testimony to the fact that miracles have not ceased, and that God has the power to accomplish his purposes, no matter how impossible things may seem. Also, I know that regardless of outcome, the Lord provides miracles and tender mercies to his children who suffer.

I have abbreviated the names and called people by titles in case they don't want their names published. I did my best to write things down as I have heard them. If you know of any inaccuracies, or any additional miracles (people have told me there were so many!), let me know. I'd love to include them.

L. was getting in his car to pick up his father from the airport, but had a strong impression that he needed to stay in his car, and not leave yet. He didn't know why, but I've been told he sat there for around five minutes, trying to figure out why he felt so strongly he shouldn't go. A police vehicle went speeding past him with lights and sirens, and he thought, "I'm supposed to follow." So he did, and when he could drive no more, he parked and ran up to see me sitting in a driveway, with my bloodied and limp little Lissy in my lap. He was the one who got there just at the right time to give her a blessing. I heard later that he was worried about her breathing when he first arrived, but after the blessing her breathing seemed to even out a little. After that he had to pick up and move on to get up his father, but the image of what he had seen caused him to weep the whole way to the airport.

B. didn't have to be to work until 2 p.m., so he and his wife has planned a trip to Costco first thing in the morning. However, he kept feeling like he needed to delay the trip, so he kept finding another thing to do before they would leave. When the emergency sirens came to his neighborhood, he was still at home, and was the one who, with another brother assisting, gave me the blessing that brought me comfort throughout the whole day. Also, his wife came to the hospital with me, and kept everyone's spirits up in the car. Later, he came up to the hospital and assisted Gary in giving Lissy another blessing of healing, this time by her father and using oil.

J. had a feeling she should have her kids go to their baby-sitter, even though she didn't have to work that day. She wondered why, but before she could really get a start to her day, she heard emergency sirens in her neighborhood. She tried to call the bishop's wife, but no answer. J. felt that she needed to walk toward the sirens to see if she could help. As soon as she saw the bishop's wife standing there with her baby, she knew she had come to take the baby so the bishop's wife could be with me. I don't remember when the baby left, I just knew that when I worried about where her kids would go, the bishop's wife said they were taken care of. J. couldn't have run to the scene of the accident if her kids were home.

From the friend at whose house it occurred:
I am glad you had the chance to write this all down. It brought me to tears, again. I am so glad it had the out come that it did. God sent many blessings that day. Another one I noted is that it rained several times that day, long and hard. All remnants of the accident were washed away. The throw up, tire tracks, and hair were gone. The heavens wept for the situation and scared a few reporter off. So many miracles occurred. Our Heavenly Father was ever present because he knew Lissy needed to stay here. He knew miracles would occur that would strengthen testimonies, unite people, and help people to always have a desire to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

The team of doctors and nurses that assembled in the trauma bay were prepared for far worse than arrived at the hospital. Even so, for the first 2 hours they were very concerned (I found out later). The medical staff I talked to that were either there or talked to someone who was there when Lissy came off the life flight take a deep breath,  and shake their heads, as if in disbelief or shaking out a bad memory. The nurse practitioner who discharged her was blown away by the contrast between what had happened to Lissy and the state she was when she was discharged. The nurse in the ICU when she first arrived said that after a while, he put a lot of the equipment away they had planned to use. He said when they hear a child has been rolled over, they usually see much, much worse. Nobody could really explain to me why it wasn't worse, like they expected. I said to one doctor, "How does she have that distinct of tire tracks on her face and not a crushed skull?" He shook his head, was quiet for a few moments, then said, "Skulls are hard." . . . Then a moment later, "A great deal of luck." We were both quiet. He finally said, "Find the explanation that works for you, and go with that."

Noah met with a child life counselor at Primarys to try to work through some of the emotions he was feeling about the whole thing. Poor kid, I worried so much about what he experienced the day of the accident. Gary and I were in there with the counselor, too. She didn't get far at first, but after a while, he started to open up. We learned that Lissy didn't actually fall out of the vehicle, she climbed out when the car started moving. Another witness confirmed Noah's story later by saying that she actually saw Lissy standing there before she was knocked under the vehicle. At one point during the counseling session Noah said, "I tried to stop the car. I pulled out the key, and that didn't work, so I got down and pressed the stop pedal." Later, witnesses told me that when the car went down into the gutter at the end of the driveway, it started rolling back up, and came very close to going back over Lissy's head, but instead it stopped. I believe Noah had assistance with knowing which one was the "stop pedal."

After Noah had talked with the counselor a while, he needed to go to the bathroom, so Gary took him. While they were gone, I remarked to the counselor, "Well, if Noah was pressing the brake, maybe the car went over her slowly, and that explains why she wasn't hurt more severely?" The counselor looked at me and replied, "Either that, or some other very special things happened." It was like a shot of electricity went through me, and I knew she was right.

This is the part that is hard to explain - my spirit experienced something different than my physical body did at the scene of the accident. The medical world calls it shock. I know it's Heavenly Father's way of helping us to bear things we otherwise could not. I felt deep concern and anxiety, however, I did not feel the anguish and terror that usually accompanies thoughts of terrible things happening to my children. They say I screamed. They say lots of people were screaming. They say I cried. I didn't hear any screaming or crying from anyone, including myself. The whole scene was very quiet and calm from my view. I heard my friend saying on the phone, "A little girl has been run over by a car," and saying the address. I heard my other friend coaching and comforting me from the side. I heard almost nothing else. However, the friend who called 911 was told by dispatch, "I need you to step away from the scene, I can't hear you because of the screaming." Even other people's description of things doesn't jog a memory. I really did not hear it.

The interesting part of the accident - I was standing beside the vehicle when I saw Lissy underneath the car. When the car finished rolling, I was below Lissy in the driveway. I watched the car roll over Lissy, but I watched the car from head-on as it went backward, wondering what was happening to her. From where I was standing at the beginning and end, I should have seen every awful moment, but I didn't. I don't understand how that is possible, but I know that's what I saw. I don't remember it, but I told the friend that drove me to the hospital that I didn't see Lissy get rolled over, when I did. I don't know why I said that, besides that I did not see what I should have seen. All I know is I was right there, and that I remember what I was thinking as it was going over her (I can't stop the car now, because it's on top of her body, and that would be worse. I wonder if she can survive that?), and the image is not as graphic as it should be. This is a tender mercy I will be grateful for my whole life.

I marveled over and over while Lissy was at the hospital at how Heavenly Father has designed us. Mostly, Lissy's body is healing itself, and what doctors have done is provide support. They gave her high levels of oxygen support so that her bruised and punctured lungs wouldn't have to work very much while they healed themselves. They held her still while her brain and skull began to heal. They gave her hydration while she was unable to eat or drink by herself. They gave her plasma and blood while her body was dealing with a bleeding liver. We were told not to let her move while her bones healed. Our Father in Heaven has designed us to heal - it's incredible!