5 Trips, 5 Close Calls: Miracle Mail | Ep. 85

0:01Speaker 1:Around 5.30 p.m., there was a knock on the door. With a very sobering expression, Sean said, Sue, I'm very sorry, but I have some bad news. Todd was in a very serious plane crash, and he is being flown to St.

0:15Speaker 2:Louis Barnes Hospital now. This is The Miracle Files. I'm Emily Jones.

0:26Speaker 3:And I'm Holly Worthington. We're two sisters who love a captivating true story, but we're also seeking more light in our lives.

0:34Speaker 1:So we're on a mission to find and share unforgettable, uplifting stories of God's miracles. We hope you'll join us on this journey.

0:46Speaker 3:Welcome back to The Miracle Files. Today we're going to share four incredible stories sent in by you, our listeners. And we've started doing these episodes every fourth Monday of the month, but now they have an official name.

0:59Speaker 2:Yeah.

1:00Speaker 1:So we asked you guys for some suggestions. We had a lot of people send in some really great ideas and we still couldn't decide.

1:07Speaker 3:No.

1:07Speaker 1:So we put it to a vote on Instagram and the winner is... Drum roll, please. Miracle Mail. We're going to call these episodes Miracle Mail.

1:17Speaker 3:Yes. Several of you sent in that name, and thank you so much for that suggestion. Yeah.

1:22Speaker 2:I love it. It's simple, and it's to the point. And thank you all.

1:25Speaker 1:We're so grateful for our community of listeners who was able to help us out with that because we were having a brain fog.

1:32Speaker 2:We were. We were.

1:34Speaker 3:And if you haven't already, make sure you subscribe to The Miracle File so you never miss an episode. And keep sending in those miracle stories because we love reading them, hearing them, sharing them.

1:44Speaker 2:Absolutely.

1:45Speaker 3:So our first story today comes from Laura Adama, and she actually sent us in the pronunciation of her name. So thank you, Laura, so much because she probably knows we slaughter a lot of names.

1:55Speaker 2:She knows we struggle.

1:59Speaker 3:So this is what she said. We were heading west through Wyoming on I-80 on our way from South Dakota to visit family in Nevada. We had made this trip many times and each had been very routine. Prior to this road trip, we had done some basic maintenance on our vehicle with our mechanic, but this time had added a transmission flush as it was indicated for the number of miles on our Chrysler town and country van. Fortunately, we were on a straight, level stretch of highway with little traffic surrounding us at the time when suddenly our vehicle started picking up speed. My husband had been driving with the cruise control set and had done nothing to change our speed. He tapped the brake, but nothing happened. Gosh, this reminds me of Janelle's episode.

2:42Speaker 2:Do you remember that one?

2:43Speaker 3:I know.

2:43Speaker 2:I was thinking the same thing. So scary.

2:46Speaker 3:I can't imagine how scary this would be.

2:47Speaker 2:I know, right?

2:48Speaker 3:Okay, so he pressed on the cruise control buttons to turn it off, but nothing happened. The seriousness of the situation set in quickly as there was nothing he could do to slow the vehicle in the normal ways you would expect to accomplish that. It didn't take long, and the RPMs were in the red zone of the instrument panel. He pressed as hard as he could on the brake, but it did nothing to slow the vehicle while our speed continued to increase. We were coming up on an exit, and he said he was going to have to take the exit, put the vehicle in neutral, and hopefully be able to slow down. At this particular exit, there was a stoplight at the bottom. We were able to stop with the vehicle in neutral, but the engine still roared.

3:32Speaker 3:He told me that when it turned green, he would put it in gear and hang on because it would take off in a hurry. Oh, my goodness. This just makes me nervous reading it.

3:41Speaker 1:Yeah.

3:41Speaker 3:He was absolutely correct. We turned onto the connecting roadway and made a quick turn into the fairly empty parking lot where he turned off the key. We both sat there relieved, scared, and thankful that we hadn't hit anyone or anything and wondering what had just happened. We found a local garage where we asked for help with a diagnosis. The mechanic said it was likely a frayed cable. My husband just said thanks and left. There is no cable for the cruise control on this vehicle. It's all electronics.

4:14Speaker 3:We proceeded on our road trip cautiously without use of the cruise control. Once we arrived, I would be scared to.

4:20Speaker 2:Get back in that vehicle, by the way. I don't know if I would keep going in that car.

4:22Speaker 3:I'd be like, let's just rent a car at this point.

4:25Speaker 2:I mean, it's so scary.

4:26Speaker 3:I agree. Once we arrived at our destination in Nevada, we took the vehicle to another garage for diagnostics. They couldn't find any reason why our vehicle malfunctioned as it had. They suggested that the floor mat had pressed on the accelerator, but during our runaway, my husband pulled back on the floor mat thinking the same thing, and it obviously was not the cause. Our son did some research on vehicle forums and found that there were numerous accounts of our same make and model of vehicle having runaways after a transmission flush done. coincidence? We don't know. But many of those accounts ended with a crash, injury, damage, or worse.

5:05Speaker 3:We feel very blessed to have avoided all of that. The Lord was certainly watching out for us that day.

5:12Speaker 1:Man, that would be so terrifying. And as you mentioned, this reminded me of Janelle's story. If you haven't heard her story, go listen. Her car also wouldn't stop. But we had so many people comment If that happens, put the car in neutral.

5:26Speaker 2:Put it in neutral. And that's what they did. And fortunately, it worked. Yeah.

5:30Speaker 3:And by the way, we have no guarantee that that's going to work. Because if it's an electrical problem, you never know. But it's definitely something to try if you're in that situation. Yeah.

5:40Speaker 1:And I think the real miracle in this story is there wasn't anybody on the road.

5:44Speaker 2:I mean, they had to exit with nobody at the stoplight.

5:47Speaker 1:They were able to pull out with nobody on the way to this empty parking lot.

5:52Speaker 3:Yeah.

5:52Speaker 2:I mean.

5:53Speaker 1:Certainly the Lord was looking out for them.

5:54Speaker 2:I agree.

5:55Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely.

5:57Speaker 1:Okay. So our next story also takes place on the road. This one was submitted by Susan and she didn't want her last name shared. And when we asked her if she wanted to share pictures, her response was so funny. She's like, honey, the only picture I submit is to the driver's license. And we know she sounds just like that.

6:16Speaker 2:That's how I picture her voice.

6:18Speaker 3:I don't know. By the way, Susan, I love you. I don't know you personally, but you leave the kindest, most amazing messages on YouTube. And every time you just warm my heart. And anyway, we love you. Yeah.

6:31Speaker 1:And her emails were really fun. I could tell from her emails that she has a fun personality. So anyway, this story comes from Susan. Susan writes, years ago, I was driving on a two lane road between the small town in which I live and the next town over where I had errands to do. Mine was the only car in the northbound lane, but there was a line of traffic in the southbound lane, including a tractor trailer that was the third vehicle back in the line. I saw the tractor trailer and move out into the northbound lane toward me to attempt to pass the two cars that were.

7:05Speaker 2:Ahead of it.

7:06Speaker 1:I don't know what made the driver think that his big rig was going to be able to come toward me in my lane and reenter his lane at the front of the line without hitting my car, but for some reason, he decided he could do it. The mental calculations I did told me there's no way this was going to end well. I tried to determine if I increased my speed if I could get to the place in the narrow corridor wide enough to pull off the road. Several car lengths ahead was the local water treatment plant.

7:35Speaker 1:The gate to the facility was closed, and the area in front of the gate was large enough for a compact car, but I was driving a Chrysler Fifth Avenue, a veritable land boat that might not fit into that small area. All of this happened in mere seconds, as I realized that I had neither the time nor the driving skills to successfully and safely navigate the situation. I prayed, Jesus, help me. And simultaneously, I found the tractor trailer at the front of the line of cars.

8:04Speaker 2:What happened?

8:06Speaker 1:I have no explanation except that miracles happened because that is who God is, an ever-present help in times of trouble, the one who hears.

8:15Speaker 2:Us when we call on Him.

8:18Speaker 3:I love that. Yeah.

8:20Speaker 1:I mean, you think about how she had tried to think on her own all of these things that she could do, and there were no solutions. And finally, she prays out, Jesus, help me. And doesn't even know how, but instantly she's out of this crazy situation.

8:35Speaker 3:Wow. And I love that she says an ever present help in time of trouble. Yeah. Because that's what he is. And it doesn't mean that everything's going to go smoothly for us, but he will be with us and help us. Yeah.

8:48Speaker 1:When you have nowhere else to turn, you have no other solutions, you can turn to him.

8:53Speaker 3:He is the one to turn to. Absolutely.

8:56Speaker 2:Yeah.

9:02Speaker 3:This next story shows how things don't always go as we want them to go. Sometimes we don't avoid the collision. Sometimes we don't avoid things that are really hard. But he's still there. This one shows you he's still there. So from our next listener, Karen McLean, she says, At 18 years old in 1991, my family and I took a road trip. My newly licensed sister took to the wheel as my mom sat in the front passenger seat.

9:29Speaker 2:They buckled up.

9:30Speaker 3:But my two other siblings and I did not. About an hour into the drive, my sister took her eyes off the wheel for a split second. She overcorrected, and the car rolled several times, landing on the opposite side of the freeway. The three of us in the back seats were ejected and were lucky not to get crushed by the rolling car. Trapped in the front seats were my sister and mom, requiring the jaws of life to free them. Miraculously, an emergency room doctor was driving directly behind our car. How often do we hear this?

10:03Speaker 2:I know. Just happened to be there at the right moment.

10:06Speaker 3:Yes. He happened to have his medical kit with him, which contained exactly what I needed. One bottle of saline solution and one narcotic. I'd broken both femurs. Painful. one of them being a compound fracture. The saline was critical in preventing infection. One hip was not getting any blood flow, but with the help of volunteers, he was able to thrust it back into place. Of the 30 volunteers who stopped, 10 of them had medical backgrounds. The right people were there at the right time. It just gets me emotional.

10:39Speaker 3:I mean, every time you hear this. The three of us who were ejected were taken to the closest medical center and then lifelighted to larger hospitals. Both of my lungs collapsed from the force of hitting the ground. I already had a heart disorder, and it's a miracle the force didn't cause further damage. I needed to be intubated, but the doctor at the medical center and the Life Flight team were unsuccessful. Luckily, the doctor from the scene came with us to the medical center and was successful.

11:07Speaker 3:Had he not been driving behind us and come with us, I would not be here today. I truly owe my legs and my life to him. Oh my gosh, this part just, Rips my heart out.

11:47Speaker 2:Absolutely heartbreaking, I know.

11:49Speaker 3:And this story has a miracle in it, but also a real tragedy in it. And yet, something she also shared in her email is that they have felt his presence. They know that he's okay. And that is such a blessing to their family.

12:07Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a miracle in and of itself, too.

12:10Speaker 3:In and of itself, yeah. So she goes on to say that decades later, I had an MRI and was immediately scheduled at the cancer center for high suspicion of a tumor. They found that it was a piece of spleen that had broken off when my body hit the ground during the accident. I was shocked to know that my spleen had been impacted. Had it ruptured, I wouldn't be here. With all the trauma to my body, I am lucky to be here to be able to walk and to have my precious children. It is truly a miracle. Oh, yeah, that's a hard one. But also, yes, you can just see the miracles in this story. And I know that we've had multiple people write in and tell us that, that even when you're going through a hard time, even when there is tragedy, look for the miracles because they are still there. God is still good. Always good.

13:01Speaker 2:Yeah.

13:01Speaker 1:And the prayers may not always be answered the way we hope, but there will still be miracles.

13:06Speaker 2:Yeah. Okay.

13:08Speaker 1:So our next story comes from Todd Greiner. Todd starts out. My wife, Sue, daughter, Joanna, and granddaughter, Ava were beginning to have a pleasant dinner on Friday, June 10th, 2016. At that same time, around 5 30 PM, there was a knock on the door. Sue was surprised to see Sean Rabideau standing at the door. Sean is a Midwest aviation manager. Sean had never come to the house before. With a very sobering expression, Sean said, Sue, I'm very sorry, but I have some bad news. Todd was in a very serious plane crash, and he is being flown to St.

13:47Speaker 2:Louis Barnes Hospital now.

13:48Speaker 1:And I just, that is one of my biggest fears, having that knock on the door saying something's happened, or the phone call, whatever.

13:56Speaker 3:Well, in a plane crash, you just immediately would probably assume this is not going to end well.

14:01Speaker 2:No.

14:01Speaker 1:No. So just to back up a little bit here, let me give you a little bit of context of what had happened. So on this afternoon of June 10, 2016, 64-year-old Todd Greiner, he's an experienced flight instructor, and he got into a small single-engine airplane with a fellow pilot who's 56-year-old John Alleman. So they were on an instructional flight practicing maneuvers. When something went wrong, the airplane stalled, and it crashed near the runway. The plane was destroyed and tragically, John, the pilot, passed away in the crash.

14:38Speaker 3:So sad.

14:40Speaker 2:Tragic. And Todd survived, but just barely.

14:45Speaker 1:He's trapped in the wreckage and he's got catastrophic injuries. He's struggling to breathe. His lungs are filling up with blood. But remarkably, despite the severity of this crash, there's no fire.

14:58Speaker 2:There's no explosions. Wow.

15:00Speaker 1:So first responders arrive and they're working very hard to try to save Todd's life. And later Todd and Sue actually wrote a book called Miracle Man. And they interviewed some of the firefighters and some of the doctors about, you know, what they had experienced upon finding Todd in this plane crash. So here's what one of the firefighters said in his own words. When we got to the crash site, pieces of the airplane were scattered everywhere. I started at the left side of the plane at the pilot's seat. I could quickly tell that John had perished.

15:34Speaker 1:He had no pulse. I then went over to your side. When I saw you, I told the chief that we needed the helicopter as soon as possible. You had a good pulse, but your breathing was very labored with a lot of noise. You were gasping for air. The first thing we did was to reposition you to open your airway the best we could. Due to the traumatic brain injury, you were very combative. You kept trying to get up. It took two of us to hold you in place. We cut your seatbelt, got you out of the airplane and put you on the ground. We were holding you down as the medics were starting an IV and you literally picked one of us off the ground.

16:12Speaker 3:Oh my goodness.

16:13Speaker 1:You had so many facial lacerations that you were unrecognizable.

16:17Speaker 2:Your left hand was damaged severely.

16:20Speaker 3:Wow.

16:22Speaker 1:So another pause here. Todd is in rough shape. He's transported to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in Missouri, where doctors immediately begin trying to save his life. Meanwhile, Sue and her daughter and granddaughter arrive at the hospital, and as word spread quickly, there's 30 family and friends that join her in the waiting room just to be there to support her, and they all begin to pray for Todd's life. So Todd and Sue later interviewed the trauma surgeon, Dr.

16:55Speaker 2:Punch, about what happened next. Dr. Punch says, Wow. That's a long time.

17:00Speaker 1:Yeah.

17:00Speaker 2:Took a while to get him out of the plane.

17:01Speaker 1:Yeah.

17:02Speaker 2:In trauma....

17:18Speaker 1:There's an idea which we call the golden hour, being able to treat you within at least the first hour, knowing that is the most critical time. Before you arrived, we already knew they had inserted a breathing tube in you. It was critical that they had already put in a breathing tube in you because you were not alert. Your breathing was not normal. Within the first 10 minutes, you no longer.

17:40Speaker 2:Had blood pressure.

17:41Speaker 3:Oh, my goodness.

17:43Speaker 2:This was your first cardiac arrest.

17:45Speaker 3:Wow.

17:45Speaker 1:Yeah, first.

17:46Speaker 3:First.

17:47Speaker 1:We did one of the most intense procedures that can be done on a patient. We opened your chest. After we opened your chest, your right lung began to expand a little and your heart started beating again. Your blood pressure quickly came back.

18:03Speaker 3:Wow. That is crazy.

18:05Speaker 2:So clearly a very dire situation.

18:07Speaker 3:Oh, yeah.

18:08Speaker 2:Yeah.

18:09Speaker 1:And even after his heart started beating again, Todd was nowhere near out of danger and And one of the doctors caring for Todd was Dr. Richard Hotchkiss, an ICU physician with more than 30 years of experience. And they also interviewed him. Here's how he described just how dire Todd's situation had become. His injuries were massive, and by all rights, he should not have survived. Most of his organs had failed, including the lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, and blood hemostatic regulation. Wow.

18:43Speaker 2:Mr.

18:43Speaker 1:Greiner also had multiple infections and sepsis, which complicated his hospital course. Despite all of this, Mr. Greiner did survive. In my mind, that is a real miracle. What was also a miracle was the faith and devotion of his wife, family, and friends. It was their faith that sustained them throughout the many ups and downs of the ICU stay. It is also the type of faith that bears witness to the Lord And it just sounds like this family just kept praying and believing and hoping and mercifully they were given this miracle.

19:29Speaker 3:Well, and sometimes I swear things are so dire that you think there is no way just so that we can see how powerful God can be. And to hear a doctor with 30 years of experience say that, by all means, this man should not have survived.

19:44Speaker 2:Right.

19:45Speaker 1:Well, and I think that's why it's so interesting that they have these different perspectives from these people.

19:50Speaker 2:Different doctors and first responders.

19:52Speaker 1:You know, it's just confirmation that all of these people are saying you shouldn't have survived and you did. And in fact, they shared with us that he received, while he was in the hospital over those two months, he received nine gallons of blood transfusions. That's like the equivalent of 72 donors. So it was a dire situation. He miraculously survived, but Dr. Hotchkiss shared something else that I just thought was really profound and worth sharing.

20:22Speaker 2:Dr.

20:22Speaker 1:Hotchkiss said, I have seen God's hand at work in the ICU many times. This is one reason I do keep working in the ICU, despite the intense pressure and challenges that I've seen many outcomes that can only be described as miracles. God saves people who had no chance of surviving. I've also seen God's grace in calling patients home to Him as well. There is both tragedy and triumph in the ICU. Wow.

20:50Speaker 2:Yeah.

20:51Speaker 3:You can't deny God's hand in these things, even when it's hard.

20:54Speaker 1:Yeah, and I know we should talk about this a lot on our podcast, and we've shared our perspective on it. But we had one of our listeners write in, and she wanted to share her perspective. And so I just want to read a thought that she shared with us that I thought was really beautiful.

21:06Speaker 2:So this comes from Amanda Peterson.

21:08Speaker 1:Amanda said, God absolutely is granting a miracle to those who survive, are found, protected, rescued, and healed. However, for those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who do not survive in this life, God has also granted them a miracle as well. He or she is now safe in the arms of Jesus, in the place He prepared for them, and where there are no more tears, no more pain, no more sorrow. He or she is now ultimately and completely healed forever. So absolutely surviving is a miracle. But I would say that reaching heaven is also a miracle.

21:44Speaker 3:Amen.

21:47Speaker 1:I thought that that was really profound. So Amanda, thank you for sharing that thought with us.

21:51Speaker 3:Yes, thank you.

21:52Speaker 2:I love that perspective.

22:01Speaker 3:You probably have all noticed that we have a common theme in this episode where it's kind of, you know, close calls and vehicles, accidents.

22:10Speaker 1:Yeah.

22:11Speaker 3:But there's a story I want to share of my own, and I've kind of mentioned it before on the podcast, but I wanted to give you a little bit more of the details and the miracle of my own story. So in 2011... My daughter Paisley was driving with me in the passenger seat, my son McKay in the backseat. Paisley was just a new driver. So it was really, this was an unfortunate timing for this, but it was nighttime. Paisley was driving on a highway going about 50, 55 miles an hour. And a young man pulled out of a blind driveway. It was like a long driveway and it had like a bunch of bushes along it. So we couldn't see his car at all until he pulled out in front of us. And he cut the corner really sharp. So he came straight at us. So we hit him head on. And at the time I just saw this white car in front of us. And I thought we are definitely hitting this car and it is going to hurt. That's all I had time to think.

23:04Speaker 3:And the impact was so hard that it knocked his car 40 feet backwards. We were later told by the insurance company. So our vehicle coasted across multiple lanes of traffic. which was in itself a miracle that no other cars were there that hit us. But it's nighttime, it's dark. And we coasted across into this dark parking lot of a business that had gone out of business. And we're just sitting there in this dark parking lot. And I'm thinking, No one has seen us even crash here.

23:37Speaker 2:And so I first checked on my kids.

23:39Speaker 3:They both said they were hurt. Paisley had a broken collarbone. McKay had been hit in the head with some items that had flown through the air, but they were okay. And then I thought I was okay too, but I went to step out of the vehicle and I collapsed. My leg was broken. I had a bunch of dislocated and broken ribs. I was pretty much incapacitated. And I thought, okay, I got to get my cell phone. I got to get my cell phone. And I looked through my purse.

24:03Speaker 3:I dumped it out on the ground there and no cell phone. I always have my cell phone with me, but I had left it home that night and I was mortified because I was thinking, how on earth are we going to call 911? So as I sat there just in absolute desperation and thinking, God, please help us. Suddenly just, I swear out of nowhere, these two older women appeared. And they came over to our car and they said, how can we help you? And I said, can you call 911? And they called 911 for us.

24:38Speaker 3:And soon the ambulance was there and we had help and everything was okay. Luckily, that other young man, by the way, he survived as well. Everyone survived, which was amazing. But I was so grateful that in that moment, I had those two earthly angels show up and help us. And it felt like such a miracle to me at that time. And I really want to reiterate that these miracles are common. They are not uncommon. They happen all the time. Yeah.

25:08Speaker 1:I imagine most of our listeners have experienced some sort of miracle in their life.

25:13Speaker 2:I hope you have.

25:14Speaker 3:You have.

25:15Speaker 2:No, you have.

25:17Speaker 3:The sun alone is a miracle. Gravity alone is a miracle. You have.

25:21Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.

25:22Speaker 1:They are all around and we just have to have the eyes to see them. So I'm so grateful you were okay. And this young man was okay.

25:28Speaker 3:Yeah.

25:28Speaker 2:Thank you.

25:29Speaker 1:You know, these are hard things that go through. Like I think about on our podcast, we tell really hard things. People are going through the worst moments of their lives. And yet I think most people wouldn't take those back because of the things that they learn and the miracles they see and how it blesses us.

25:44Speaker 3:Yeah.

25:45Speaker 1:So true.

25:45Speaker 3:So true. So we hope you've enjoyed today's stories and we hope that they've brought you some hope. We also want to thank Laura, Susan, Karen, and Todd for sharing their miracle stories. And hopefully we haven't scared all of you out of driving or flying again.

25:59Speaker 2:I'm never going to listen again.

26:02Speaker 3:Come back. Truly, truly. There are so many miracles, even in the midst of the hard times. And we want to also encourage all of you, keep sending them in because we love hearing these stories. Yes.

26:12Speaker 2:Thank you guys so much. We'll see you next time.

26:15Speaker 3:See you then. Thank you for joining us. If you have a miracle to share, contact us at themiraclefiles.com or find us on social media. We release new episodes each Monday.

26:27Speaker 1:Yeah, so don't forget Miracle Mondays. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content as well.

26:36Speaker 3:Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles. And don't forget to look for His light in your own lives.