The Christmas Miracle of 2002

On this very day in 2002, God spared Tommy's life from cardiac arrest. I'll never forget that day and the emotions that were racing through me. It was a lot for a 25 year old to take in and not to mention we had only been married for 3 years. But God is so good and He brought us through that time. We wrote a letter to all of our family and friends and I thought it would be nice to share it here. Here's the story:

(January 31, 2003) We hope all is well and you all are in great health and happiness. Sorry for the mass mailing here, but we wanted to take a few moments of your time and let you know what has been going on in our lives. Many of you already know “the story”, but for those of you that don’t, we’re sorry you had to find out this way! We would call everyone if we could, but time just doesn’t permit that. After you have read this story, please feel free to share it with others.

On December 21, 2002, Tommy went to Greenville, SC for a professional bowling tournament. He was really excited about it because this was the first one he has bowled in quite some time. Trisha was on her way to Wilmington, where we were supposed to meet up for Christmas. However, our plans changed. Just a bit of history, again for those that don’t know, Tommy has had a pacemaker since the age of 5. He was born with a congenital heart defect. Over the past three years, he has had surgery for a new pacemaker as well as several surgeries to correct irregular rhythms. However, for the past year he has had no problems.

Back to the story…He traveled to Greenville with a friend that he bowls with here in Charlotte. Tommy had completely bowled through one game and had begun the second. After his turn, he went back, had a seat and fell from the chair to the floor. By the Grace of God, there were two EMS first responders (one was bowling), another medically inclined person, and a man who has had numerous trainings in CPR. They all had no clue that he had a pacemaker or what was occurring at that time. They couldn’t get his heart to start again because he needed a shock from a defibrillator, so they continued with the CPR. At this point, they are thinking that he has had a seizure.

Tommy’s mom receives the first phone call and then calls Trisha to find out what medications he is currently taking. After we got this through to them, Trisha, Tommy’s mom, and Tommy’s brother started the drive from Wilmington to Greenville. During this time we had our dearest friends, Kara and our “Preacher” (our former pastor from Wilmington who lives in Charlotte) and his wife drive from Charlotte to Greenville because we knew that they could make it there faster. The doctors from the hospital constantly called during our drive to let us know what was going on with Tommy. He arrived there by helicopter and they had put him on a respirator.

After a few hours we finally arrived in Greenville. Tommy was irritated (partly because of the medicine) and he didn’t have a clue as to what had happened to him. In the meantime, many prayers are going out, all down the eastern seaboard. Trisha talked with the doctor and he explained that Tommy had gone into cardiac arrest, not a heart attack. His heart stopped beating and it took three shocks from the defibrillator to get his heart started up again. He also said we were very blessed that there were people around him that could carry out CPR, without them being there, Tommy would have either not made it or had serious brain injury. He also told us that because of the lack of blood flow and oxygen, there may be some permanent brain injury, but it was just too early to tell at this point.

On Sunday, Tommy was taken by helicopter to the hospital in Charlotte. This is where all of his doctors are at and we knew this would be the best place for him. He was very emotional and all of his short term memory was obsolete. He couldn’t remember bowling at all or to that matter anything dealing with the “event.” Once he arrived in Charlotte, they took him off the respirator. The doctors came in and told us that they would need to put in a new device, an ICD or internal cardioverter defibrillator. This would automatically shock his heart if this were to happen again. It also has a pacemaker function.

On Monday, he had numerous visitors and he started remembering little by little who had been by to visit. He was still having trouble remembering what day it was and he still really didn’t know what exactly had happened to him.

On Christmas Eve, they performed the surgery, implanting the new device. It went well. They put the heart back into that really irregular rhythm twice and it shocked it back to normal within two seconds. As to why this happened, we still really do not know except that it was part of God’s Perfect Plan.

Tommy was able to come home Christmas Day, although he doesn’t remember much about it, except that Trisha’s family was there and he ate lots. On Friday, the 27^th of December, his memory began to come back. Although he still doesn’t remember the “event” or many of the days after it, he can remember everything from that Friday on. He also can’t bowl or golf for two months and he is not allowed to drive for six months. We see the doctor for the first time on January 31^st.

We are writing this letter to thank each of you for all you have done, most importantly all the prayers. If you’re just finding out now, it’s still OK to pray! As our former pastor would say, “We need the prayers, you need the practice.” We also want each of you to know how much we love you. You all mean so much to us. We believe that God allowed this to happen for a reason. Although we don’t quite know what it is yet, we feel like writing this letter could be part of it. We want you to experience the same joy we have everyday, knowing that our Savior loves and protects us. We have been told that only 5% of people that experience what Tommy did, live to tell about it. Therefore, we want you to know. We’re also praying that if you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior like we do, that you will find Him and accept Him as your own. We also feel it’s very important to be in church, around Christian friends, who can help guide and support you through all things, including one such as this. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” So we know from the beginning, God was in this! We wouldn’t want it any other way! We hope to see you when our Lord calls us home.