My Inspirational Story
Posted 07-17-2008 at 04:29 AM by ellie81
I know I've share this before and maybe some of you already heard my story, but whenever I get a chance, I like to share it with people because I believe it can give encoragement and it can serve as proof that God does miracles... so here we go!
I suffered an accident when I was fourteen years old. One day while vacationing at a beachside town, my family and I were playing in the ocean. I stepped on top of my dad’s shoulders and dove into the water hitting my chin against the bottom of the ocean and breaking my neck. I was immediately paralyzed; my body went numb. I don't know if any of you heard about Joni Earekson Tada’s story, well, my accident was a little similar. After the impact I was facing down into the water; my dad thought I was “playing dead”, but after a while he turned me around, and then I told him: “Dad, I can’t move!”. They took me out of the water and sent me to the hospital and a MRI revealed that I had a C5 fracture. The doctors told my family that I was never going to walk again; they said that I might be able to recover the movement on my hands, but they couldn’t be sure. I was a quadriplegic. The first week at the hospital I was completely desperate because I knew what was going on, I was never unconscious, not even after the impact. I would ask anybody that walked into my room, even the cleaning lady, if I was ever going to walk again. We were a christian family so everybody I knew, and even people that I didn’t know, started to pray. After some days the peace of the Lord filled my heart and I began to believe I was going to be healed. There were actually no signs of me getting better at that point but I was so convinced and uplifted that the psychologists at the hospital were telling my parents to make me understand the reality, otherwise eventually I was going to get very depressed and that was going to be very bad for me. My parents told these doctors that they were not going to do that because they knew God was going to do a miracle.
A few weeks later, after I underwent surgery to fuse the bones back together, I was still in the hospital, still paralyzed. One day my grandmother was reading the Bible to me and I was looking at my feet, which were uncovered. I started to look at one of my toes very closely and… it moved!!!!!!! Just a tiny bit… but that was enough for me to know that God was beginning to act. Little by little I started to move different parts of my body; the doctors were amazed!
The story that follows is pretty long so I’m not going to get into much detail. I stayed at a physical rehabilitation center for a few months, where I began to walk using a walker. Then I went back home where a therapist used to come to help me with my workout. I went from using the walker to use pair of forearm crutches, from that to one crutch, then just a cane, and then nothing!!!! I’m not going to say it was easy; I was just fourteen, I couldn’t do what other kids my age where doing, but it really helped me mature. The key bible verse that followed me all along was Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through Christ, who strengthens me”. God has helped me all the way. There were moments when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do something, but God proved me wrong. I still limp a little, but that’s ok, I can still have a normal life. Maybe I limp so I would never forget what God did in me and also so that people would wonder what happened to me and I can tell them that there is nothing impossible for Him. You know what? A thousand things came to my mind when I suffered the impact and I was face down floating in the water unable to move, but I can remember I thought of three things “I won’t be able to go back to school! I won’t be able to get married! and I won’t be able to have kids!”. Well, the only thing still pending is having kids, but I’m sure that will be coming soon…
Thank for letting share this!
Ellie
I suffered an accident when I was fourteen years old. One day while vacationing at a beachside town, my family and I were playing in the ocean. I stepped on top of my dad’s shoulders and dove into the water hitting my chin against the bottom of the ocean and breaking my neck. I was immediately paralyzed; my body went numb. I don't know if any of you heard about Joni Earekson Tada’s story, well, my accident was a little similar. After the impact I was facing down into the water; my dad thought I was “playing dead”, but after a while he turned me around, and then I told him: “Dad, I can’t move!”. They took me out of the water and sent me to the hospital and a MRI revealed that I had a C5 fracture. The doctors told my family that I was never going to walk again; they said that I might be able to recover the movement on my hands, but they couldn’t be sure. I was a quadriplegic. The first week at the hospital I was completely desperate because I knew what was going on, I was never unconscious, not even after the impact. I would ask anybody that walked into my room, even the cleaning lady, if I was ever going to walk again. We were a christian family so everybody I knew, and even people that I didn’t know, started to pray. After some days the peace of the Lord filled my heart and I began to believe I was going to be healed. There were actually no signs of me getting better at that point but I was so convinced and uplifted that the psychologists at the hospital were telling my parents to make me understand the reality, otherwise eventually I was going to get very depressed and that was going to be very bad for me. My parents told these doctors that they were not going to do that because they knew God was going to do a miracle.
A few weeks later, after I underwent surgery to fuse the bones back together, I was still in the hospital, still paralyzed. One day my grandmother was reading the Bible to me and I was looking at my feet, which were uncovered. I started to look at one of my toes very closely and… it moved!!!!!!! Just a tiny bit… but that was enough for me to know that God was beginning to act. Little by little I started to move different parts of my body; the doctors were amazed!
The story that follows is pretty long so I’m not going to get into much detail. I stayed at a physical rehabilitation center for a few months, where I began to walk using a walker. Then I went back home where a therapist used to come to help me with my workout. I went from using the walker to use pair of forearm crutches, from that to one crutch, then just a cane, and then nothing!!!! I’m not going to say it was easy; I was just fourteen, I couldn’t do what other kids my age where doing, but it really helped me mature. The key bible verse that followed me all along was Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through Christ, who strengthens me”. God has helped me all the way. There were moments when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do something, but God proved me wrong. I still limp a little, but that’s ok, I can still have a normal life. Maybe I limp so I would never forget what God did in me and also so that people would wonder what happened to me and I can tell them that there is nothing impossible for Him. You know what? A thousand things came to my mind when I suffered the impact and I was face down floating in the water unable to move, but I can remember I thought of three things “I won’t be able to go back to school! I won’t be able to get married! and I won’t be able to have kids!”. Well, the only thing still pending is having kids, but I’m sure that will be coming soon…
Thank for letting share this!
Ellie
Comments 4
Total Comments 4
Comments
[B]Oh my, what a inspiring story, Very touching and it goes to show the Lord's Blessings.[/B] [URL="http://www.glitter-graphics.com"][IMG]http://dl3.glitter-graphics.net/pub/775/775363sd8v46h29m.jpg[/IMG][/URL] | |
Posted 07-17-2008 at 02:28 PM by Breezeaway |
Wow, how did I miss this? What an incredible and inspiring story. Thanks for sharing it here. Your recovery really sounds like a miracle. | |
Posted 09-24-2008 at 11:27 PM by alaskayorkie |
You are such an inspiration to me. Thank you for sharing your story...not nearly enough people give credit to God, instead we always hear "It was a miracle" Yes, that is true but only through God was this even possible. | |
Posted 04-28-2010 at 04:54 AM by TonyaG |
Wow!Thanks Ellie for posting this! What a great Christian testimony you have! Thank you for being a witness for Christ and carrying His name wherever you go. Press on! | |
Posted 06-06-2010 at 07:44 AM by Pup-e-Love |