During my husband’s heart attack, he had to be revived 4 times. Just before the 4th time, he experienced walking through flowing grasses, the gentle breeze he felt and the lovely road with a tunnel of light that he was going forward to…. This was decades ago, before it was socially acceptable to share a ‘Near Death Experience’, so he kept quiet only sharing with a few. And we simply praised God for his extra time here on earth.
Recovery from his heart attack was difficult and RJ went from pacemaker to defibrillator. You see, every four to five years he had to have a little battery replaced in the defibrillator. It was a simple 30 minutes procedure, something so quick you could have it done as an outpatient, but most cardiologists required It be done in the hospital. No big deal, we took the morning off and went to have the battery changed. Our kids and some friends came, just to keep me company while I waited, which was delightful, but a little unusual.
We waited the 30 minutes, then an hour. I wondered if they had taken RJ to recovery and forgot to tell us. I went to ask the nurse for an update. She said she’d check, and we waited another 20 minutes before she came back and said the doctor would be out in a bit. Still another 20 minutes passed, and another. Finally, they asked us to meet our cardiologist in a private family room. That was odd, he usually reported to the family in the waiting room. I was more than concerned.
The first words out of the cardiologist’s mouth were, “It was a Divine Intervention! God intervened.” He sat down and showed me the EKG paper, which with the exception of the first few heart beats, was blank. The doctor asked if I knew what he was showing me – it was Instant Death! I’d never heard of it, but my husband had just experienced it – And Lived!
Our doctor continued to show me the long blank pages of EKG paper – no flat line like you see on TV – just blank paper. He said if there is a flat line, there is a chance of revival. But never a chance when it’s just blank, empty paper. He kept folding the paper page after page. And then – there was a little line, then a bump in the line, then more peaks and valleys like a normal heartbeat on EKG paper. We were speechless. In all the papers published and books written at that time, our cardiologist told us there has never been a case recorded of life after an Instant Death. He was almost in shock. Again, he repeated, “God did a Divine Intervention!” Our hearts simply bust with AWE for our God.
It has been years since this happened, yet each morning we wake up, we know we’ve been doubly blessed with extra time on this earth to serve our KING and LORD. Oh, how we praise Him each day for this second, no I should say third, chance at life! Our prayer is that we continue to serve Jesus well.
Edwina and RJ – Redeeming the Time Ministries, Lone Oak TX – 2008