Miracle on Highway D

June 21, 2010 dawned hot and muggy in southern Missouri. It was the kind of day that made people stay inside their air-conditioned houses until evening.

I had worked at a church camp the previous week and was ready for some relaxation. Planning to meet family and friends at a state park nearby, I loaded belongings into my car and started driving.

Highway D was a picturesque postcard, a two-lane black ribbon flanked by deep, tree-lined ravines on both sides. Sharp s-shaped curves punctuated the road. I drove, picking up speed on a downhill series of curves.

Suddenly it happened. Going too fast to negotiate the next set of curves, I reasoned that it might be safer to veer to the left than to bounce off the rock wall I thought was around the curve on my right.

I had only a split second to cry out, “Jesus, please take over!”

Crashing through treetops that were level with the road, the car hurtled through the air, struck a tree and clattered upside down on a pile of boulders 35 feet below.

Waking from unconsciousness with an airbag in my face, I found myself hanging upside down from the seat belt.

“Ooh, I’ve gotta get out of here!” I reasoned.

I punched the seat belt button and unceremoniously flew over the seat to the back, being knocked out a second time.

I awoke in the back, on the underside of the car roof, face down in a shower of shattered glass.

Immediately upon awakening the second time I sat up and murmured, “Thank You, Lord, for letting me live. You must have something yet for me to do in this life.”

The 94-degree heat was stifling inside the closed-up car.

I fished the cell phone out of my pocket and tried to call friends from the camp. None answered. I tried family members; no one answered.

Several minutes later my husband did answer his cell phone message and encouraged me to call 911.

I wondered how long it would take the police or fire department to find me.

My car was hidden in a ravine, far below the road surface; in fact, it was invisible from the road. And in my dazed state, I had given the 911 operator the wrong name of the highway!

Later I discovered that the state trooper who found me had noticed skid marks on the road and pulled over to investigate what might be at the bottom of the ravine. Seeing an upside-down car on boulders, the trooper’s immediate thought was that he might have to extricate a body out of the wreckage.

The fire truck and ambulance arrived shortly.

Ambulance attendants dragged me up the steep hill on a plastic sled, placed me in the back of an ambulance and sped off. I heard them radio the Life Flight helicopter with the amazing instructions that the helicopter wouldn't be needed. The patient was doing better than expected!

In spite of the jolt and being knocked unconscious twice in a matter of minutes, I was able to survive virtually unscathed, except for a sprained back and a skinned knee.

Does God still perform miracles today? I heartily believe the psalm which says, “The angel of the Lord encamps round about those who fear him and delivers them.”

What about you? Do you have any unusual accounts of miraculous occurences? Feel free to comment below.