The Nightmare that turned into a Gift

“Call 911 now!” The command echoed in my ears like in a deep tunnel.

What’s happening to me?

A wave of pressure constricted my head. Everything in the room spun around. Every muscle in my body became limp as I began to sink in a spiraling hole, like the one from the old tv show, The Twilight Zone.

Before I knew it a doctor and several nurses surrounded me, took my blood pressure, pinched my arm for an IV, and wrapped a line of oxygen around my head.

“It’s not necessary to call an ambulance. It’s not a big deal.” I managed to mumble.

As a medical practice administrator, I have always been on the giving side of medicine. This wave of attention overwhelmed me as much as the unexpected symptoms attacking my body.

It had been an uneventful Wednesday, except for a last-minute meeting with a friend. Instead of being alone, she joined me after I received the shot that threatened my life.

Male voices in the exam room called my name, picked me up and transferred me onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.

 I tried to open my eyes, to tell them my right arm worked best for the IV, that something was compressing my chest, but I couldn’t speak.

God, please take control, please help me!

The faceless men rushed me into the ER. As the automatic doors opened, I heard a familiar voice.

“Don’t worry, everything will be all right,” It was my husband standing next to the doctor in charge.

I wanted to cry, but even that was painful. He bent down and quietly prayed over me.

As the Word of God entered my ear a wave of peace flooded my soul. Simultaneously, the medications entered my body and the anaphylactic shock started to subside.

The doctors emphatically said that I could’ve died that day if I had been by myself. Some thought I was lucky. Others marveled at the coincidence.

A few days after the incident my friend came back to see me.

“Thank you” I said as I hugged her, “you saved my life.”

With tears in her eyes she replied, “What are you talking about? Have you forgotten all you’ve done for me? Don’t you realize that you’ve been my constant support this past year during my divorce? It’s you who saved me when I had no hope.”

A light turned on in my head at that moment.

The Bible reminds us to go through life:

Rendering service readily with goodwill, as to the Lord, and not to men.

Knowing that for whatever good anyone does, he will receive his reward from the Lord…

Eph. 6:7-8 AMPC

I had not been lucky; neither had it been a coincidence.

God placed my dear friend in the right place at the right time to help me.

The Word of God not only came alive in me that day, but it literally gave me life.

Suddenly, my worst nightmare became my greatest gift.