Called Back to Life

Sathya Sai Baba

oi-Staff

By Super

Friday, October 7, 2011, 14:02

All over the world miracles are happening as sure signs of God"s Grace. Most of the time we do not get to hear of them. Many times the recipients themselves are not even aware of how God has saved them from serious injury, turned them away from muggers, gained them meaningful employment or planted that brilliant life-enhancing idea in their mind!

But sometimes one cannot avoid the obvious - that a miraculous change for the better has indeed been the result of divine intervention. Such is the case with the true story of US Army Major David Shublak.
Married for only six weeks to his wife Linda, they were a very happy couple and he had a successful army career ahead of him. Being a regular jogger he tended to go out every morning for exercise. But this hobby nearly lead him to lose his life in a tragic accident.

Linda adored their new life together and one day as her husband was out exercising, she suddenly heard the wailing sound of sirens and realized that someone had been hurt. Being a devout Christian, she instantly prayed to the Lord for the unfortunate person – little knowing that the victim was her own husband! A fast moving car had hit David and propelled him 65 feet away from the impact! He had landed on his head on the concrete. It was a gruesome sight. The paramedics rushed to the scene and took him to hospital.

At the hospital, David underwent immediate treatment for severely broken legs and a broken arm. He had facial and skull fractures. Twenty minutes into the surgery, his brain started to swell five times its normal size. At that point the chief neurosurgeon told Linda that David was not expected to live.

It all seemed a hopeless situation, which only spiraled downwards when even worse news came from the doctors: David"s brain was not functioning at all.

“It was heart-wrenching the night we were officially told David was clinically brain-dead," says Linda. From then onwards, David"s friends and military officers started to plan for his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. Some suggested Linda should donate several of David's organs. Even the Shublaks' pastor had prepared for the worst, after seeing the readings from David's brain pressure monitor, which showed no brain function compatible to human existence.

However, Linda had not given up. She could not believe that her husband"s life could be taken away from her so savagely. She began to pray to the Lord – not for strength to bear it all - but for her husband. The amazing faith that Linda possesses prompted her to ask the Lord for guidance as to how she could help David. "There was so much pressure," says Linda, "and so much doubt and unbelief in other people that I said, 'Lord, give me some assurance of what I am to do.'"

Amazingly, John 11:25 was highlighted in Linda's Bible. "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, even though he die, yet shall he live." "And that was God telling me that even though they were saying David was brain-dead, he was going to live," says Linda, believing in God more than medical science.

Linda continued to read the Bible and pray unceasingly. She spent untold hours by her husband"s bedside. There she played Christian music, placed the Bible on David's chest, and pinned scriptures all over the hospital room. But while her faith grew in anticipation of a miracle, others around her were worried she had lost touch with reality. "It disturbed a lot of people," she says. She was living in another world from those around her: a world of absolute trust in God and His healing power.

Linda ignored the opinions of those who had given up hope and kept praying for David, even though he was still on life support. She did not listen when people tried to offer her condolences at his 'death"; or when they suggested she take rest at home. And in God"s own time, against all the accepted odds, by the sixth day, David began responding to visual light! When Linda, whispering in his ear, encouraged him to show the doctors there was even more life in him, he started moving his legs, astounding everyone. "It was like an awesome reverence that came over the whole room," says Linda, "Just a glimpse of glory."

David"s recovery continued to astonish people in the weeks to come. Slowly, David's memory returned. After two months of intensive rehabilitation, he was able to return home. The neurosurgeons agreed David's recovery qualified as a miracle. David"s willpower seems to match his wife"s faith, as he says: "I feel absolutely great," says David. "My goal is to do a marathon." Recently, David returned to active military service.