Angels and Miracles

When I was 27 I took a teaching gig in Grand Cache. The school was small, only 50 kids. It was a Christian school, K-8. My class was organized with 3 grades, 3,4,5. The challenge was overwhelming and exciting. I only had 12 students, of which I quickly fell in love with. The learning experience was so rich. I bought my first house after a month of living there. The mine had just reopened and my family and I decided it was an opportunity for investment that I couldn't miss. Weeks before I took possession of the house, I was invited to a rec volley ball night. I was eager to meet new people and get some exercise so I accepted. Expecting a night of tossing around a ball, I was looking forward to some fun. Once we got organized it didn't take me long to discover these players were more than the average adults wanting a little exercise. Three out of eight of the players played for the U of A bears. Initially, I was intimidated, but they convinced me that they were grateful to have another player. It was exciting and I really enjoyed my night out.

The following week, only 4 of us showed. We still played 2 against 2. I was pushing myself to keep up. We played for 2 hours. I should have stretched! Towards the end of our scrimmage I lunged forward and a loud snap filled the gymnasium. It felt like a  corner of a table landed on the back of my lower leg. The three players surrounded me with awe and confusion. " What was that sound?"

My calf was convulsing. It kind of hurt but I was mostly in shock. One of the players was a massage therapist and confidently suggested I was having a muscle spasm. So I went home and iced my leg and took muscle relaxers. After 5 days of trying to live with the injury, it became apparent something was wrong. When I would walk on it, I would collapse. Absolute weakness! It reminded me of when you try to walk when you have pins and needles in your leg. There was bruising and swelling. I started feeling the back of my leg by my heal. On the left I could feel a hard like cartilage, on the right I could feel nothing. Just soft skin. " Oh Crap!"

Disappointingly, I took myself to the Grande Cache hospital that night. The doc said he needed to make a call. He returned with no change in tone or personality and delivered the news. I was to be in Grande Prairie the following morning for surgery. I had ruptured my achilles tendon and was going to be in a cast for 3 months.

I called my principal, she agreed to drive. I remember waking in the middle of the night at 3 am after the surgery and looking down. In despair, I called my mom. She met me in Grande |Cache and assisted me for a week. After that I was on my own. I moved into my new home and continued teaching with this cast. I remember my first morning back at work; by the time I reached the classroom I felt like I had a ran a marathon. I was dripping in sweat, I was exhausted. I didn't know how I would get through the day. But I did!

My students were my little angels. They brought my books for me, came to me and helped me everyday. Each morning we began with prayer and devotion followed by intentions. This was the highlight of my day. Hearing these adorable kids pray for their grandparents and their pets was so endearing. So sweet! Every day a student would pray for my healing.

The orthopedic surgeon warned me that when my cast came off it be excruciatingly painful and this would be when the hard work would begin. It was mid January, one my fellow volleyball buddies offered to drive me for the trip back to Grande Prairie. Today I was going to be free from the cast, but the next step had it's own challenges to anticipate. The doctor told me to brace myself;  he needed me to try and walk so he could diagnose my mobility and assess how much physio therapy I would need. The general rule was 3 months.

I inhaled, closed my eyes and lifted myself to standing. I took a step...It didn't hurt!!! I proceeded to walk to the other side of the room. I turned and looked at the surgeon. His eyes were welling up, I could see shock washing over his face. There was silence. He just stared. After many moments, with a hesitation and certain quietness he said, " You are healed...you will not be needing any physio therapy, this is medically unheard of."

The next day, with great enthusiasm I shared this experience with my students. They were filled with joy. However, they were not in least bit stunned because all along the way...they fully expected their prayers to be answered; and they were.

During those 3 months of being in a cast I had to learn how to function, how to live with only one leg. Initially, life seemed impossible, overwhelming and exhausting. As I powered through I began to get stronger, it was also empowering to innovate adaptations to function. It gave me pride to be able to live and work despite my disability. There were many times I wish I had more support.  But I was living on my own and single. I did however meet another angel during this time. We met online in November. We spent most of our early relationship messaging online, and eventually ended up chatting on the phone. He was my voice of encouragement during this time. I met him for the first time a week before I had my cast off  in January. He wasn't there to help me get groceries or do my laundry while I was in my cast but he was bringing my life hope. His name was Gordon Mark.