Lassen: The Other Side Of The Ride
This is an email I sent to my family after I attended church for the first time after the accident in Lassen.
Hi,
I am here in beautiful Reno Nevada alive and well! I was at church today. After what has happened to me, I saw Church a little different today. It was all so much more meaningful to me. Each hymn sung had real applicable meaning in its words. The sacrament was extra special.
After I felt the pain when hit, I thought of the Savior and the pain he suffered in the Garden. I cannot imagine what that must have been like. What I felt almost made me want to die. Then, to see all the members of the church who have poured out so much love for us with the dinners each night, the visits, and the staying with me for 36 hours during and after surgery. We talk of a ward family and that is about it. Well, the ward family to me is just as important as a personal blood family. I have a very deep love for them all. It has all been such a perfect wonderful day.
Now for a Story. This story is the most special story of all the stories told of this experience with being run over by a car.
At the point of impact I heard a noise that was the most freaky noise, then the pain came, then the thought of death. I had just been hit by a car going 35-40 miles an hour. The impact of the car should have hurled me to the side of the road, messed up my bike, and tumbled me on the ground only to suffer more injury from asphalt scraping my flesh, gravel embedding itself into my skin, bumping, bruising, cutting, puncturing, and every other manner to inflict damage to my body. That did not happen, and for 10 days I have pondered on that and what actually happened.
After I had the thought of death and could see myself blacking out and everything started to turn gray, I felt my body being supported and carried. I was then laid on my back on the road. It started to get light again and I could see people standing over me and others offering aid to comfort and to try and determine the extent of the injury. Fortunately the pain dropped from a perfect 100 in the scale of 1-10. It leveled out in the 4-6 range.
On the 10th day of pondering, I was relating this story to a friend who had just brought dinner to us. At the point where I related the feeling of being carried, I just stopped talking and listened to the words coming into my mind as if someone were talking to me. The words I heard were “It was me. It was me, It was your mom”. Believe it or not, but that is what I heard and I believe that mom was there as well as others of our family to take care of me. This was a near death experience where I felt the presence of guardian angels and was blessed by them. Yes, I believe this. Yes, I believe that Mom is our guardian angel. I was not knocked to the ground to suffer more, nor did I fall to the ground. I do not have and cuts, scrapes, abrasions, scratches, nor was any of my clothes torn or soiled from what should have done it all.
Miracles happen each day. I see them all around me. Yesterday, after being told not to, I drove myself to a CE Class I needed to take and then stopped at Home Depot to check on something. I was then to go to another stop down in Carson City to check on something. I stopped at home first and when I got out of my truck I shut the door and it automatically locked itself. Something that does not happen, but it did then. Both my keys were locked inside. I now could not go anyplace. I was not to go and my condition required me to stay home and get the swelling down. Who knows, I may have met another bad accident.
I love each of you. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Paul