Met by Miracles at Death's Door

August 2006, Lorraine drove her mother Emily to the emergency room. Lorraine says, “She was complaining a lot, the pain was strong.  She said, ‘It’s a 10 it’s a level 10 pain. It’s very strong.’ She’d never experienced that before but she thought it was her heart.

As hospital staff performed a cardiac cauterization test, Emily’s heart quit beating. Doctors struggled to revive her. Finally after 10 minutes they found a pulse and she eventually stabilized. Soon after a doctor told Lorraine the terrible news.

“He sat me down and said, ‘It’s very serious; your mom has a torn aorta. There is nothing we can do for her. As per policy we are going to send her to Iowa City, University of Iowa Hospital. But we know from experience there is really nothing they can do either.’ He said really ‘It’s a death sentence.’”

Lorraine called family to join her and pray, then she spent a few minutes alone with her mom. She says, “I felt like this was the last time I was going to see her alive so as much as I could I spoke to her, told her I loved her, was able to stroke her hair, to kiss her and that was all I could do. The level of anxiety the level of grief was very high. At this point there was no hope, no hope I had been given.”

Emily was transported to the university hospital. When Lorraine arrived minutes later she noticed a license plate that read Y.H.W.H. YHWH, the intimate name of God. At that moment Lorraine says she felt his presence. “The peace that passes all understanding that guarded my heart and mind kicked in and came over me and from that moment on my anxiety was gone. My hopes are eternal and my hopes are in Christ and I knew where my mom was going no matter what and I knew the LORD was with me no matter what.”

Doctors ran a new cauterization test to confirm the first diagnosis.  Then they told Lorraine their findings. “’We’ve done all the tests that we could and there is no torn aorta.’”

What was clearly visible just hours ago was now healed. Lorraine says,  “Anything that came out it was all God!”

The new tests however did reveal a 90 percent blockage in an artery near her heart. But when they went in to place a stint the blockage also disappeared.

Lorraine says, “Really there was nothing the doctors could do. God was doing a healing, and so far nothing the medical community had done for my mom, they hadn’t been able to touch her. They hadn’t been able to perform anything. Nothing man did was healing her, this was all God. He healed the torn aorta, He removed the blockage.”

Lorraine says doctors were still worried about another issue. “The doctor explained to me at that point that they were not sure of her brain function that it was a concern for them because she had been gone for ten full minutes. They didn’t know what her brain function would be like when she came out.”

The next morning, Emily woke up and tried to communicate.  Lorraine says, “My mom was lying on her bed fully intubated trying to use sign language. We can’t understand her. Finally she’s frustrated enough so they get her a pad like a clipboard and marker and she writes down, ‘No anterograde or retrograde amnesia.’ So I said, ‘ok, I think her brain function is there, I think she’s back.’”

Miraculously, she had no signs of brain damage either. Emily and Lorraine say the presence of God sustained them through the entire experience. Emily says, “I know I was touched by God and I think when He touches you can’t even explain it. It would have been fine with me had I gone that night but I didn’t and the Lord had something else in store, and I felt fabulous.  It was an experience that I will never forget because of the way I felt when I woke up. I just felt like I wanted to stand up and dance and scream and sing and whatever it just felt so good.”

Today, Emily’s heart is healthy. Though questions remain regarding what exactly happened, Lorraine knows it was ‘God with them’ that made all the difference.  Emily says, “The Lord really healed me three times. If you can have three miracles in one miracle I really did. No torn aorta, no blockage, no brain damage.”
Lorraine says, “The joy of having her back was wonderful but greater was the piece of having Him with us.”

“Why he did this for me I don’t know, I loved him before I love him now.” Says Emily,  “It’s not for me to question why, other than if I can glorify Him that’s the most important thing. He is a merciful God and he does miracles today, not just in biblical times and he does major miracles today.”