a story of five miracles (and counting)

Late Monday night, or early Tuesday morning, my little brother finished his final project late and traveled back to Tulsa from his college to get a jump start on sleeping in his own, warm bed. About 20 minutes outside of Tulsa, he hit black ice on the Lake Keystone bridge. He spun around, missed hitting the wall that would have taken him into the water (Miracle #1), and totaled his car on the construction median.

He got out of his totaled car through the window without a scratch (Miracle #2), and called my dad, a little disoriented. As soon as he figured out where he was, my dad urged him to get off the road because it wasn't safe. Pretty much simultaneously, a semi comes barreling toward him, hits the same patch of black ice, and jackknifes.

All my dad hears is my brother yelling and then the phone goes dead as it smashes. The semi did not hit my brother (Miracle #3), but he had nowhere to go but over the bridge and onto the steep boulders that line the lake and keep it in its spot. He lands on his knee and not his head (Miracle #4) and shatters it.

The pictures are so disgusting I don't dare to post them, yet adrenaline somehow carries my brother to sprint up the hill to the semi driver where he asks if he's okay and then begs to use his cell phone. Remember, where we last left my dad, all he heard was that there was a semi, and then a scream, and the phone went dead. My brother assures him he's alive, and by that time, the fire truck had arrived.

It's only then that he realizes he is bleeding, and my dad takes him to the ER where my brother is diagnosed with a torn tendon and a shattered kneecap -- no ligament damage (Miracle #5) -- and has surgery that morning to fix it. He also gets stitches in his side where he has some deep lacerations and road rash.

I took off work that day to stay with him and keep my mom calm, and he had so many friends come to see him! Someone even brought him a Snuggie (see picture), and we joked and laughed a lot. He was completely himself, not super groggy or anything. He even got up and took a few steps even though he'd just had major surgery in his knee and got a screw put in.

I am so grateful for these Five Miracles (and counting) because it means my brother is here with us to stay. So many things could have gone wrong, but we believe that God had His hands in the entire situation. Mike would appreciate your prayers for his continued healing. He should be getting out of the hospital today!