Today is April 30 and this blog post is
an excerpt from my book, GRACERUNNER - FAITH ON THE RUN. As
you read, you'll soon find out much about me that you don't know. You'll also
notice that my "celebration" run this year is the 26th
anniversary of the day that changed my life forever.
Read my story and you'll understand why I must
continue on this path that God has laid out for me....There truly is a place
called grace!
GOD WILL GET YOUR ATTENTION!
A Miracle of God’s Unimaginable Grace!
“And we know that in all things God works for the
good
of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
On April 30, 1986, I left my office to go out for a run. The
day had been shortened for me as the athletic teams
at Samford University had finished practices a bit early on that
day. As the Head Athletic Trainer at the university, it was extremely rare
for me to get a little free time at the end of a day. So, I was excited
about going out for a long run and having some time alone for reflection.
Little did I know that, on this day, my life would be changed
forever. My life as I knew it would never be the same again.
I ran an unusually fast pace that day. I ran a route that was
somewhat new to me. I took a wrong turn and had to make my way down to a
very busy highway just about the time of rush hour. I couldn’t get across
the highway to run against the traffic so, I moved to a spot several yards off
the shoulder of the road and ran alongside the traffic. I had a few
hundred yards to run before I would reach
the entrance to the Samford University campus and be able to walk back
to my office for a cool down from a very good run.
Suddenly, I was involved in a serious, unimaginable accident.
While running along the very busy Lakeshore
Drive in Birmingham,Alabama, I was struck from behind. I was
propelled forward more than 30 feet. I thought that I had been hit by a car! I
was face down on the shoulder of the road and I knew that I was hurt badly. I
couldn't feel my legs and I had significant pain up and down my spine. I was
alert and conscious during the entire event but still had no idea what had
happened. It felt as if time stood still.
Several people stopped to help. I heard sirens in the distance and
a flurry of activity ensued. One of the people who stopped to render aid
was a nurse. I spoke to her and told her that I was a certified athletic
trainer and understood what was going on medically. Therefore, I had many
questions. “Do I look broken up? Am I bleeding? What hit
me?Will you take my blood pressure to make sure that I don’t have any internal
injuries?”
The answers were good and bad. She told me that I did not
appear to be mangled and that I was not bleeding. She took my blood
pressure and assured me that it was fine. Still, I couldn’t feel or move
my legs. I could hear the sound of sirens getting closer and
closer. The nurse stayed with me until the paramedics arrived. I
never saw her face. I never spoke to her again. Nearly 24 years
later, I still do not know the name of this wonderful person who stopped to
comfort and help me after this devastating accident.
Police arrived on the scene and I finally found out that I had
been struck by something that had flown off the back of a pick-up truck. I
didn’t know what the object was, but I knew that it must have been something
pretty significant!
As I lay face down on the ground, I overheard the policemen
describing the object that had hit me in order to record it in their incident
report. I heard them describe the object as a “5 feet wide by 9 feet
long sheet of plywood.” For some reason I thought -- “They don’t
make plywood in that size.” So, I asked the EMT to get the policeman
over to me. I asked the officer about this 5’ X 9’ sheet of plywood and was
told that it was painted green with white stripes.
I was puzzled by this until he told me the rest of the story.
Bottom line: IT WAS A PING PONG TABLE! This “table” was
being hauled on the back of a pick-up while two men held it down from the cab
of the truck.This very large piece of wood, that soon became a flying missile,
was not tied down or restrained in any way whatsoever. I had been hit by a
flying ping pong table! What are the odds of that?
God went to the extreme to get my attention during my afternoon
run! He does that sometimes! Sometimes it's a soft whisper, sometimes it’s a
loud roar, and sometimes it's a ping pong table!
After being immobilized on a spine board by a team of very capable
emergency medical personnel, I was transported to a nearby hospital where
I regained feeling in my legs a couple of hours later. I was kept in that
hospital for pain and injury management for 17 days. A few days after my first
hospital stay, I was back in the hospital for surgery and a stay that lasted
until the end of June of that year.
My sacrum had been crushed. I had lost nerves. I had significant
muscle and other soft tissue damage. I had tremendous swelling and
eventually turned black and blue from the top of my shoulders to the bottom of
my feet. This injury would affect me for the rest of my life. I was
very fortunate to be alive.
Serious rehabilitation was ahead of me. I was told that I would be
lucky to walk normally again and running was most likely out of the question
forever. In my wildest dreams, I could not envision running again.
If I had been struck a foot lower, my legs would have been damaged
significantly. If I had been struck six inches higher, I most likely would
have been a paraplegic. If I had been hit in the neck region, I would have
been a quadriplegic. If I had been hit on the head, I could have been
killed. God spared me for a reason. I continue to uncover His reasons
more than two decades later.
Each year on the anniversary of this event, I celebrate that I'm
able to walk and run. I celebrate that God used a tragic moment in my life to
get my attention. I celebrate that he did a miracle in my life and now I have
been blessed to be a part of the running community through a ministry such as
TEAM 413 that was planned and ordained by God Himself! I praise Him that I am
able to be a part of something that is so much bigger than we could ever
comprehend, envision, dream, or imagine.
On the day of celebration each year that marks the anniversary of
this STRANGE event and injury, I go out for a run at the time that the injury
occurred, about 5:30 PM. Each year, I ask others to join me on that day either
in person or wherever they are at that moment. They run with me and they
pray with me. It’s always a very special day to thank God for miracles of
GRACE.
Each day of my life I pray that God will continue to get our
attention and then use us in ways that we cannot comprehend. I also pray that
He will be glorified through the ministry that we call TEAM 413. God has
entrusted us with such an amazing outreach ministry. We consider this a
miracle after the incomprehensible circumstances that occurred on that day in
April 1986.
As we continue on our journey through life, we give thanks for
God's grace… ~ And so I run ~ And so I care ~ And so I share ~ And so I praise
His name for His goodness!
~ ONE MORE BREATH,
~ ONE MORE STEP,
~ ONE MORE MILE,
~ FINISH LINE!
Under HIS Grace...
Chris
