The following is excerpted from LDS Living. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
While my parents and I were driving home on snowy roads from a dinner celebrating my wedding engagement, I looked up from the backseat when I heard my dad say with fear in his voice, “I don’t think they are going to stop!” I watched helplessly as a distracted driver ran a stop sign and T-boned our car right where I was sitting. The dizzying force of the hit pushed us into oncoming traffic, which resulted in the loud bang of a head-on collision.
Horns blaring, metal crushing, tires sloshing as they slid in the snow—my ears were overwhelmed with sound. The smell of car exhaust and the glare of headlights in the windows were testimony to the trauma of what had just happened. “Daddy, I hurt…” was all I could get out before my body began burning with pain. Emergency personnel were called to the scene, and I was extracted from the car and put on a spinal board. I was in critical condition swimming in the painful unknown—all only twelve weeks before my wedding.
A collapsed lung, a detached esophagus, and other internal injuries put me at risk of not surviving the night. I had a prayer in my heart from the moment right before the accident to when the doctors put me to sleep for the surgery. I told Heavenly Father, “Please, I’m not ready to die yet. I’m getting married. I have so much to live for.” My beloved fiancé, Justin, came to the emergency room so we could say our goodbyes before I was taken away for immediate surgery.
During the surgery, nurses came to Justin in the waiting room and told him to be prepared for the worst because things were not going well. Gratefully, I did survive the surgery but was in a medicated sleep for another day before I was stable enough to be revived. Then I spent a week in the intensive care unit before I could be moved to the trauma care unit. While I was grateful to have survived, a long road of recovery awaited me. This special time of my life preparing for my wedding was completely upended. I felt powerless to do anything to help myself and shed many tears at how lost and disoriented I felt.
The pain and emotional unrest I experienced over the next few months pushed me to think more deeply about my faith in God’s plan. As I navigated difficult decisions and endured the healing process, I grew to better appreciate priesthood power, the magnitude of blessings that come with honoring covenants, and the priceless, motivating influence of Heavenly Father’s love.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
