I can recount many of the details of our drive into town, of the few hours in the ER at the local hospital and even of the ambulance ride and then stay at the larger hospital an hour away. However, as I have told and retold this story all summer, the ambulance ride is what stands out the most to me. Ty had taken his dad home to where J and Grandma already were and then was going to drive to meet us at the bigger hospital. He left before we actually got in the ambulance. As we stood outside, as I watched my little girl on that huge rolling stretcher with the too-big neck brace on, I thought I was going to suffocate. I couldn't breathe. At that point we knew she had a large skull fracture. They didn't see any brain bruising or swelling or bleeding which was great. However, I think they expected it to change given the level of trauma from a fall of that height and the fracture. We were warned that if pressure developed the pediatric neurosurgeons would go in to relieve that pressure. Thanks to a mom who was a trauma nurse I know that means brain surgery. I didn't know what we were walking into once we arrived at the bigger hospital. As we stood outside in the cool evening moments before loading E into the ambulance, I wanted to freeze time. I didn't want to walk forward into the unknown. It threatened to drown me and I kept squeezing my eyes shut, as if I could stop it all right there. The problem was the image I saw when I closed my eyes was my brother being taken out to the life flight when he was 1 and I was 6-7. As the ambulance driver took me to the side to climb in I took a deep breath and wanting to close my eyes but not wanting to see anything worse I silently cried out "God I can't do this!"
In that moment I closed my eyes and saw a hand reaching down and hand reaching up gripping the other one. I remembered J pointing out a picture earlier that evening at our friends' house. "Mom, look at that picture of Peter and Jesus. Remember when Peter walked out on the water and got scared and Jesus held his hand and helped him? Look, do you see it? Do you remember that story?" As I stepped into the ambulance I thought, "ok, I can look at your face Dad, Abba." The next hour I wanted desperately to sleep and each time I felt as though I would drown from the fear of the circumstances around us, I closed my eyes and held on to my Father God's hand with all my strength. I looked up to His face and knew He was there with me. I knew that He held me tightly, and He also was holding E tightly. Even if she had brain surgery. Even if she were to die. He was my Dad and He was all that I could cling to. I had such peace from that moment on. Whenever I started to waiver and look around at the "what if" scenarios, I closed my eyes and clung to the hand of my Savior with all that was in me. And He held me right back!
Meanwhile Ty was driving an hour by himself in the middle of the night, after being up at 5am to travel that day. I had told him to call a friend who had been praying since we texted him-just so he wouldn't be totally alone in that time. He explained how that was the longest hour of his life. He talked for a while but then it was too hard and he got off the phone. He said that it was almost unbearable to think of his baby girl hurting and the unknown of what she might have to go through. In that moment, our wonderful Father God also was with Ty. He showed Ty that how much Ty loves his little girl, He loves Ty as his child with the same kind of unconditional love! He showed Ty that the way he was so concerned with his daughter, that was the way God felt about him! God reminded him that He was with E and loved her, but He also was with Ty and loved Ty no matter if he himself had fallen short in times. It was a very special moment where God reminded Ty quite tangibly, that God loved him apart from anything Ty brought to the relationship-but rather loved him just for who Ty is to God, a son!
Thankfully, E is perfectly fine! She was released the next day without a single scratch or bruise to be found anywhere! She had a 5 inch fracture on the side of her skull but no brain injury of any kind! She fell 8-9 feet landing on her head and back on concrete and apart from a fracture at the point where the plates join (which the Dr said will be totally invisible if she ever has a scan in the future!), she had nothing to show for it! Well, that's not totally true. She had a huge bag of goodies from the hospital like a blanket, toys, Dr. kit, etc that she has to show for it!
We know without a doubt that God miraculously held and healed our dear little girl in that event! We know that it was directly related to our prayers and the prayers of our dear saints all over the world. We posted a quick status to fb for people to pray when we first got into ER-before we knew anything. Within minutes there were hundreds praying all over the world. We received over 100 messages from Australia, to Europe, to Asia, to all throughout North America of people praying. It was completely overwhelming and we are humbled to have such family and friends around the globe. We have wanted to share about it for a while but it is hard to put something so big into words. In fact, we had no words even to pray that night. Yet God in his great loving heart toward us, graciously answered all of your prayers as well as those of His own Son who we know from Scripture intercedes on our behalf as well. E may not remember this event as she gets older. We will never forget! We thank God for his mercy in meeting us both where we most needed it, and before we had any idea if E would be ok or not. We praise Him for who He is. He is God Almighty, Father, Healer, Protector, All Present. Will you praise Him with us?