As an occupational therapist, rural drives are routine for me as I deliver services across the state of Kansas. As I drove from one nursing home to another on Jan. 27, 2020, I lost consciousness for unknown reasons. My car crossed the center line and tilted as I entered the ditch. I was alert briefly but not long enough to correct the car, which plunged 10 feet down an embankment and into a creek.
After my car hit a cement culvert, I regained consciousness, feeling cold water up to my waist. Airbags had deployed in front of me, and my right arm hung at a weird angle at my elbow, broken. I tried the driver’s side door and could not open it. I could not reach the seat belt to unlock it. Trapped, I spoke a desperate plea, “Lord, please help me.”
The next thing I knew, I was standing in water outside my vehicle with no idea how I had gotten out of the car. Later, I had a vague awareness of being on the side of the road with a sense that someone had helped me. But the person I thought I saw was not known by any of my rescuers. Emergency workers told me that three teenage boys had found me, and they called for an ambulance. I have no memory of them.
In the ambulance I felt colder than ever before. They took me to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita to assess my injuries.
I had sustained a brain bleed (which fortunately resolved within 24 hours), displaced sternum and multiple fractures of my humerus, spine and seven ribs, putting me at risk for lung puncture or collapse. My arm was broken in two places, one requiring surgery, and I sustained various cuts and bruises around my eyes, nose and mouth. It was a miracle that I survived.
I remained in the hospital for one week, went to rehab for one week and then came home to continue outpatient therapy. In July, I returned to work without restrictions.
I believe my rescue required divine intervention as my injuries would have prevented me from getting out of the car on my own. My heavenly Father picked me up carefully and placed me where he wanted me to be.
God is real and intervenes in the lives of people. He exchanged my weakness for his strength and is my ever-present help. Having faced death once gives me confidence to face the future. God was present for me in that difficult situation, and I believe he’ll be present in the next one that comes.
At the time of the accident, my sister had just died and my husband had lost his job, leaving me grieving while trying to pick up extra work to make ends meet. But I sensed God so intimately after the accident and saw how he preserved me. He replaced my “ashes” of self-reliance, fear and anxiety for light, life, joy and peace.
After the accident, everything hit me in such big ways. Colors were more vibrant. My emotions were bigger. I cried more. Laughed more. I experienced a huge sense of God’s love, protection, provision and presence. The knowledge of these gifts carries me, and I look forward to the time when I will get to see God and be with him for eternity.
DeVona also shared her story with her nephew, Adam Suderman. To read the story as told in the months after the accident, click here.
DeVona Roble is semi-retired after serving as an occupational therapist for more than 40 years. She and her husband, Craig, have six children and attend Hillsboro (Kansas) MB Church.
