Miracle Survival Changes Woman's View of God

“That particular day it was pretty windy and I could actually hear some branches falling on the roof.  And we heard just an explosion. It just rocked the whole house.” says John Shaw.

It was mid-November, 2017.  John and Naisila Shaw's family had just finished an early dinner. Afterward, their 14-year-old daughter Caitlin went to her room to take a nap.
Without warning, a 100 ft tall tree crashed into her bedroom. A neighbor came over to help as they searched frantically for Caitlin.

John looks back, “All I saw was this tree completely filling the room. And the roof had uh, of course, been crushed underneath it and-and I can see just the sky behind it. And it was raining, and it was still windy.”

His wife Naisila remembers, “I run into the room and just tried to see if I can see her, I'm calling her name out and she's not responding to us.”
The tree was massive and too heavy to move. Finally, John spotted one of her legs.  

“Finally found her and – but we couldn't see her head. And-and so I'm pulling her leg, she's not coming, I start pulling her arm, she's not coming. I'm pulling so hard I feel like I'm going to pull her arm right out of her socket, and I'm pulling with everything I got and she's not moving, and her head is still pinched, and just under the tree”, said John.

Naisila says, “It was scary because, you know, the trees, the branches everywhere - I thought she's gone. You know, dead.”

John continues, “All of a sudden w-when I'm pulling on her-her arm while she's sliding between my hands. I can't explain it, but all of sudden she started shimming out from under the tree.  And it was just like – almost like an Aha moment. It was God. Just intervening.”

Caitlin was unresponsive. They called 911 and took her to the living room where John began to pray.

“I just laid my hand on her head and said, ‘Father, in the name of Jesus, I-I cast out the spirit of injury and death.’ And then I began to say, ‘Jesus, breathe into her’”, said John.

John tears up and says, “And right at that moment all of a sudden her-her chest began to rise and she started shaking. Her body started like – almost like she was having a seizure. And she was just gasping for breath, and up to that moment there – she wasn't moving, she wasn't breathing, nothing was going on, just laying there.”

EMTS arrived at the scene and Caitlin was transported to the hospital.  John & Naisila followed close behind.  

“They had her on life support, I began to pray again, I began to put my hand on her, praying for a miracle of God,” said John.

The Shaw’s started calling their friends and family, and soon they had a prayer chain for Caitlin that stretched from there in Washington, to Tennessee, all the way to Guam.

John speculated, “I would figure there're probably hundreds, maybe even a few thousand people were that were praying for my daughter.”

Naisila remembers, “I said God, give her another chance, please.”

After 18 hours the doctors removed life support to see if Caitlin could breathe on her own.

IT was tough for John to think back, “This is the moment of truth. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. They'll either pull her off and she's going to somehow be hanging on still, or we're going to end up letting her go." I – was calling out to God and all of a sudden they said, "Come back in she's stabilized to a point, she's breathing on her own.”

"It looks like she's fighting for her life. She's fighting on her – on her own”, said Naisila.

Caitlin’s nurse shared her story with other members of the medical team.

According to John, “She says, "I know I'm not supposed to necessarily share names and all that, but there's a young girl named-named Caitlin and I'm-I'm taking care of her and-and we have a walking miracle in our hospital here today."

Caitlin recovered quickly and within days of her traumatic experience was released from the hospital.  

John joyfully states, “Here it was a Friday and Sunday we-we're in church. She's in church with us. It was almost surreal. And-and there was such-such an excitement in the congregation.”

Two weeks after Caitlin’s miracle, the Shaw family celebrated thanksgiving with hearts full of gratitude.

Caitlin remembers, “I knew a lot of people were praying for me and I felt very thankful for them.”

Naisila adds, “I would really thank God for bringing us all back together, you know, and for Thanksgiving. That's really special for us.”

John says, “There was just such a sense of gratitude and-and thankfulness, that opportunity just to have a continuation of her being with us and-and God never left us or forsook us in-in the midst of all that trial.”

This experience has changed Caitlin's view of God, she says, “I started to actually like believe in Him cause like He saved my life and if it wasn't for Him I would like wouldn't be here.”

Naisila states, “God is real, God answered my prayers, he'll never leave you nor forsake you.”

John says, “There's still that soft spot in our heart of just thankfulness and-and gratitude to God because in the midst of just devastation and broken pieces, and he just sustained us and we're just so thankful that He's carried us through.”