by Kelly Denise Baker
On the evening of January 31st 1997, Marion Roberts ( a seventy-nine year old, devoted Christian woman) was in a very serious car accident. Her vehicle flipped into a ditch, she was subsequently thrown to the back of the truck and laid there for an hour with a broken neck waiting for the ambulance to arrive. She fortunately survived. This should be the end of the story, but during the four months in the hospital she endured unspeakable abuse. The details are vile and horrid. It’s truly a miracle that she survived not only the car accident, but all that she was forced to endure at the hospital as well. It may be the power of prayer that pulled her through this terrible ordeal, but more likely it was her life spent devoted to God and her faith in Him that He would be by her side no matter what!
When first admitted to the hospital, her family was informed that her chances of survival were slim to none. A woman in her late seventies with a broken neck and previous heart problems doesn’t have a very good chance of survival, even without the occurrence of malpractice. She was unable to breathe on her own and was subsequently put on life support. The machines were breathing for her. When her family would go to visit her, they would have to call upon arrival and inform the doctors and nurses. This gave the doctors and nurses ample time to hook the machines back up and make her appear to be well taken care of. She was unable to speak, but she could manage to write a little bit with a pen and paper. Her minister would go to visit her often, but he was declined visitation. Sometimes her family wasn’t permitted in either. Marion later claims that this was when she was recovering from bruises after being physically abused by both the doctors and nurses. She later claimed that after visiting hours were over she was put into a small, cold, dark room and left overnight. The doctors and nurses never expected for her to survive any of these nights considering that she couldn’t breathe without the machines. She finally managed to write on a piece of paper to a family member, “ If I stay here any longer, I’m going to die. “ She was transferred within the hour. When transferred to the second hospital, the doctors had called the initial hospital for her medical files and were then told by them, “Oh, she’s not going to make it anyways. “
It may be true that we’re all God’s children and He loves us all equally, but perhaps years of dedication to Him brings upon much more recognition and His presence is therefore much more apparent in our time of need. As a child, Marion went to church every Sunday and continued this throughout her adulthood. She maintained a strong relationship with her minister and was baptized in her faith. Through the efforts of herself and her husband, they shared The Bible and their Christian beliefs with their children and grandchildren. Through any stress and difficulties, she turned to the power of prayer and insists that “any prayer will come true if you believe“. She would never waste a prayer on something trivial. When she misplaced anything of importance, after spending days of searching on end, she would pray to God to help her find what she had misplaced. One time she misplaced a large sum of money. She endlessly searched every dresser drawer in her bedroom to no avail. After searching her entire house for it she came to the conclusion that it must have been stolen somehow and was lost forever. So, as a last resort, she sat at the edge of her bed and prayed to God to help her find the money. Her eyes were closed and she opened the drawer to her nightstand and placed her hand inside.
Underneath her hand was the pile of money she had misplaced. God can perform small miracles such as this, but more importantly, He performs miracles such as pulling people through life threatening situations. There isn’t any logical explanation for the money suddenly appearing and there is definitely no scientific explanation for how she managed to survive night after night without life support when she was unable to breathe on her own.
She slowly recovered in the other hospital and was able to explain all the grotesque details of her experiences. Rather than praying to God to help her out of this situation, she admits she prayed to Him to take her to Heaven so she no longer had to suffer. He didn’t answer this prayer. Instead He pulled her through and she miraculously made it through those long nights. This wasn’t the first time she had been in grave condition. This certainly wasn’t the first time God had showed her that He was watching over her. She had a rough childhood and many traumatic experiences throughout her adulthood, including losing her forty-nine year old daughter in a car crash six and a half months after her own car accident, yet she never strayed from God or considered changing her beliefs. Many people do stray. Many people grow up having a strong belief in their religion, yet after experiencing lives hard battles, they begin to question His existence and/or intentions. Although she prayed to Him to end all her pain and suffering, He declined and showed her His appreciation of all the years she spent as a devoted Christian. Although we all have trials and tribulations, God is there when we truly believe in Him and His power. She states, “If you never turn your back on God, He will never turn His back on you.“
U S Legacies, July 2002
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