Miracle Man

By Eddie Janisch

The corner of Butte Falls Highway and Highway 62 is not a good place to die. Certainly not flat on your back in the dirt beside the road with sirens wailing in the distance. A bleak January night, a heart that is no longer beating, and a prayer. Not a good place to die perhaps, but a great place for a miracle.

As the grim faced paramedic frantically cut the clothes off of her husband’s chest and screamed for his partner to hurry with the defibrillator Michelle watched the life leave John’s eyes. Wanting desperately to believe otherwise, Michelle knew that the man she had loved for thirty five years was dying. Kneeling in prayer as the paramedics tried a second and third time to restart John’s heart she begged God for the courage to accept His will.

On the third try John’s heart began beating again but that success was short lived. During the long ambulance ride into Medford he went into full cardiac arrest several more times.

Finally at the hospital, he was rushed into Emergency and even as he was wheeled through those doors his heart quit again. Three more times the defibrillator was applied to his chest, each time with limited success.

With a heart that was beating irregularly at best, John’s blood pressure was dropping rapidly and hope was beginning to slip away from even the seasoned doctors and nurses who were battling for his life.

An x-ray showed a blood clot that was blocking the main ventricular artery to his heart. Surgery would be required to clear the artery but as he was rushed into the operating room John went into cardiac arrest yet again. After stabilizing him back in E.R. they ran to the operating room to begin surgery to unclog the main artery to John’s heart and perhaps save his life.

Three hours of heart surgery followed, during which time John’s heart stopped several more times. Meanwhile Michelle waited. She waited and she prayed. Waited because she had to, and prayed because it was the only thing she could do. When she opened her eyes she was no longer alone.

Several family members as well as three local pastors who had close ties with John, had come to lend their support. The waiting room was quickly transforming into a prayer room. They prayed for the surgeons and they prayed for John, but mostly what they prayed for that long night was a miracle.

After what seemed like an eternity a weary doctor emerged from the operating room with less than encouraging news. Although he was hopeful he was not optimistic. He had done all he could against seemingly impossible odds but in his opinion it would be a miracle if John made it through the next twelve hours.

Twelve hours passed and John continued to cling to life. In the Critical Care Unit John’s heart stopped several more times and each time the defibrillator was required to restart it. During that dangerous first day following surgery, a new complication was added when John developed Bacterial Pneumonia. Already weak from the ordeal of the past twenty-four hours, his body was now being attacked on another front.

During the next several days as John lay unconscious, the doctors and nurses prepared Michelle for the worst. If her husband should wake up, she was informed, he would most likely have severe heart and brain damage.

Michelle informed them that she was holding out hope for a complete healing. Although their skeptical faces seemed to question it, Michelle was unwavering in her belief that God had things under control.

Early in the morning on the fifth day Michelle entered John’s room to find him sitting up in bed drinking apple juice. He was not only conscious but alert as well. John was back and from all indications his mind had made the long journey home as well.

An echogram was ordered on his heart to assess the damage it had suffered. The doctor who delivered the results was nearly speechless. A similar test performed twelve hours after surgery had revealed massive damage but the results of this test showed a normal heart with good pumping action. Words like “unbelievable” were all the doctor could manage as he left the room shaking his head in disbelief.

John was moved to a private room and word soon spread of his amazing recovery. Doctors and nurses from all over the hospital began to drop in to see for themselves, the man everyone was talking about. He was quickly dubbed “the miracle man on the third floor.”

Stories like John’s don’t come along every day. An excellent job had been done by the paramedics and surgeons but John is quick to point out that it was God who had guided their hands. The real miracle man is Jesus Christ and ultimately the decision of all our lives hangs in His hands.

John’s strength was building rapidly and so was his faith. He had just come out on the winning end of a miracle and he figured there must be a good reason why. A fire was rekindled in John’s belly as he pondered how he might best serve God and honor the extra days of life he had been granted

Eventually John was discharged from the hospital and allowed to return home. At the end of three months of cardiac rehab, John’s doctor called him in to review a recent treadmill test. Frankly, he was astounded. John’s endurance was greater than that of a man his age that had experienced no heart disease or trauma. His heart was pumping blood at a level well above average and from all indications a complete healing had taken place. He had seen nothing like this in all the years he had practiced medicine.

John realizes, perhaps better than most of us, just how short time might be. Always an optimist, John has taken his new lease on life to a whole new level. The positive energy he punctuates into each moment is a rare and wonderful thing. Such energy is contagious and being around John has become a lesson in belief.

The word impossible no longer exists in his world. With a healed heart and a promise from God, the “miracle man” has a message to share. We serve a God who specializes in long shot victories. Stand strong in your faith and hold fast to your dreams. Keep hope alive and never give up. The battle belongs to the Lord and the miracles have just begun!

Eddie Janisch writes from Central Point, Oregon.