Today we are celebrating PaulA's…
5th "birthday"…
5th?
 |
since his cardiac arrest.
Every so often you hear a story
that can only be described as a miracle.
PaulA’s story was exactly that........
Miracle on 10th Ave S.
It started like any other day.
PaulA was on his usual run
through our Nashville neighborhood...
just a few blocks from our house when…
he went down.
His heart stopped. No pulse.
Cardiac Arrest.
And that’s when
Jesus took the wheel.
That day he put McKenna, a Vanderbilt Hospital nurse,
on that exact road.
She was on her way home after having lunch with friends,
when she spotted PaulA on the ground.
She pulled over, called 911,
and immediately started CPR.
She also called her friend Shawna whom she had just left.
Shawna and her husband Jake,
also nurses at Vanderbilt Hospital,
came running to help.
Jake took over CPR
until the ambulance arrived.
The doctors later told us
PaulA was fortunate to have been given
the most proficient, efficient,
life-saving CPR
he could get.
Just so happens that Jake was
an Emergency Room nurse.
What are the odds?
Anywhooo....
Whenever people hear PaulA’s story they ask…
Did he see the white light?
Did he hear the voice of God?
Did he cross over and then come back?
The answer is NO
to all of the above.
PaulA didn’t remember anything the day he went down
and the days after
as he was put in a medically induced coma.
But he did remember us…
when he woke up.
There we were…
gathered around his hospital bed
as PaulA began to open his eyes.
It felt like a scene from a dramatic Hallmark movie…
holding our breath as the doctors explained to him...
“PaulA, you have had cardiac arrest
and you are at Vanderbilt Hospital.
Then checking for a response...
"Can you move your right foot, your left foot?…
Now your right hand, left hand?"
The percentage of people who survive a cardiac arrest
outside a hospital setting is low…dismal odds.
90 percent of people don’t make it.
PaulA has been back in full swing…
back to himself...
strong and fit…
and still our rock.
At high tide we swim out to a massive rock
we call "Flat Rock."
For our family,
PaulA is our literally our own Flat Rock..
our sanctuary…
always there with his love and support and
to raise us up.
These past 5 years have been an incredible gift.
PaulA was graciously given
the gift of life
and we were given
the gift of PaulA.
The trio of compassionate earthly angels ,
McKenna, Jake and Shawna
who God put in his life
to save PaulA
saved us too.
There are no words to express
the extent of
deep gratitude and feelings...
we have for them.
And we give enormous thanks to the
EMT's,
the Emergency Room staff and
the dedicated Vandy doctors and nurses whose
care, knowledge and expertise
change people's lives.
5 years ago we celebrated our 40th anniversary
in a Vanderbilt Hospital room...
which is not the most romantic place for an anniversary
but
we were happy to be holding hands.
🎵 So Happy Together. 🎶
Happy 5th "birthday" to PaulA
and cheers
to our 45th Anniversary.
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