The Accident
A lot of people want to know about the accident that put me in a wheelchair. I usually give a brief recap of the events that occurred: a basic where, when, and what occurred. It’s shocking enough to just hit the highlights that I don’t often get pressed for a lot of the details.
To be honest, the fear of what others will think about me has simply held me back for entirely too long. So, let’s begin with more of the story of what took place on the morning of March 20, 1999.
I was 20 years old and in perhaps the best physical shape of my life. I had traveled to Cancun, Mexico for Spring Break with several friends from Ohio University. We were young, dumb, and on a mission to party like it was, well…1999.
We flew out of Columbus on Friday evening, March 19th. Everyone, with the exception of myself, had started drinking before the flight. I wasn’t abstaining because I was on good behavior, I just happened to be the only one who was under 21, so I couldn’t get served until we got to Mexico where the legal age was 18. After we landed and were on the bus, I cracked my first beer as we left the airport. I think I managed to get 3 beers in me before the coolers were emptied on the way to our hotel.
Once we got to the hotel there was a problem with the reservations that took well over an hour to get straightened out. In the end we were given 2 keys per room and there were 4 guys in each room, which becomes an important detail later. So, to make a long story short, I was tired, my buzz was gone, and I was not feeling the party vibe. My plan was to get my bags up to the room, go over to the nightclub next door for a few drinks with the guys, and call it a night.
That was exactly what I did, except when I went back to the room, the only other guy there was Nate, and neither of us had keys. The guys with keys to our room had gone to another club and weren’t going to be back any time soon.
It was around 4 A.M. on Saturday at this point, so Nate and I decided to make the best that we could of the situation. We found a convenience store still open; we each bought a 6 pack and headed over to the beach. We were going to kick back a few brews and watch the sun come up while we waited for the other two knuckleheads to show up with keys.
As Nate and I were walking out onto the beach we noticed 2 small piers: one that was brand new and one that was obviously older. We remembered that someone had mentioned to be mindful of our surroundings after dark as there had been an uptick in gang activity in the area. With that in mind, we made our way over to the older structure that had better lighting. I sat my 6 pack of beer on the edge of the structure and sat down on the sandy beach next to Nate.
Earlier I mentioned that everyone else on this trip had started drinking in Columbus on Friday afternoon. Well, Nate was one of them and the 12 hour binge had finally caught up to him. Not 10 minutes after sitting down, he laid back and passed out.
I proceeded to slowly finish my beer and then walked over to get my second from the 6 pack on the edge of the pier. I remember walking out onto the structure with the fresh bottle in hand and looking up at the stars. I was admiring just how beautiful the night sky was and I recall thinking how awesome God was to bless us with his canvas of artwork that stretched on, seemingly forever.
Apparently, this must have been when the pier gave way because the next thing I remember was being face down in the water. I tried to turn myself over and realized that I was in real trouble because I couldn’t move any part of my body.
The next thought I had was a mental cry, “Lord, I’m in trouble and I need you now more than ever in my life…” and instantaneously I was overwhelmed by a feeling of peace like I had never experienced before. Everything became still and quiet. I still remember the water being so clear that I could see the ocean floor beneath me. To this day it baffles me since it was still dark outside. It was complete serenity.
Then came a voice, or should I say, the voice. The only way to describe the voice is to say it was one that I had never heard, but I have always known. It was soothing, comforting, and encouraging all at the same time. I immediately recognized that I was hearing directly from a deity. Unfortunately, at this point in my life I was not spiritually mature enough to recognize it. Today I know that I was in the presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
He told me not to worry, that everything was going to be okay. I was going to fall into a deep sleep and when I awake everything would be different. He told me that I would survive this and there was a lot of work left for me to do. He told me that I wouldn’t be able to understand at this moment what all of this meant, but to know that when it was time, God would reveal His plans for me. For now, he told me to rest assured, that God had this situation under control. He said I was to finish my education and do the works that He had prepared for me. Then everything went peacefully dark…
Continue reading part 2 of our series. If you haven’t already, please consider sharing this website with friends to share how God uses trials in our lives to grow us up into the character of Jesus. If you have already shared or contributed, thank you!