{"id":519,"date":"2017-04-23T14:57:21","date_gmt":"2017-04-23T14:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp-royal-themes.com\/themes\/ashe-free\/?p=71"},"modified":"2025-01-12T23:01:26","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T23:01:26","slug":"miracles-in-the-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/?p=519","title":{"rendered":"Miracles in the Details"},"content":{"rendered":"

A year ago, on assignment in the state of California, I went with a stake president to visit with Clark and Holly Fales and their family in their home.\u00a0 I was told they recently had experienced a miracle.\u00a0 Upon their arrival, Clark struggled to stand and greet us as he was wearing a back brace, a neck bace, and braces on his arms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just over two months prior Clark, his son Ty, and about 30 other young men and leaders set out on a stake high-advnture activity, hiking to the 1,180-foot (4,322m) summit of Mount Shasta, one of the highest peaks of California.\u00a0 On the second day of the arduous hike, most of the climbers reached the summit — a thrilling accomplishment made possible because of months of preparation.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the first people to the top that day was Clark.\u00a0 After a brief rest near the edge of the summit, he stood and began to walk.\u00a0 As he did, he tripped and fell backward over the edge of a cliff, suffering a free fall of about 40 feet (12 m) and then an out-of-control tumble down the icy slope for another 300 feet (91 m).\u00a0 Remarkably, Clark survived, but he was severely injured and unable to move.<\/span><\/p>\n

The miracles Clark experienced during this traumatic event were just beginning,\u00a0 Some of the first to reach him “happened” to be a group of hikers that included mountain rescue guides and emergency medical professionals.\u00a0 They immediately treated Clark for shock and provided gear to keep him warm.\u00a0 This group also “happened” to be a testing a new communication device and sent an emergency request for help from an area where cell phones could not get a signal.\u00a0 A small helicopter was immediately dispatched to Mount Shasta from an hour away.\u00a0 After two dangerous but unsuccessful attempts to land at an altitude that pushed the limits of the aircraft, and struggling with treacherous wind conditions, the pilot began a third and final try.\u00a0 As the helicopter approached from a different angle, the winds “happened” to change and the aircraft landed just long enough for he group to quickly and\u00a0 painfully squeeze Clark into the small compartment behind the pilot’s seat.<\/p>\n

When Clark was evaluated at a trauma center, tests revealed that he had sustained multiple fractures in his neck, back ribs, and wrists; a punctured lung; and a multitude of cuts and abrasions.\u00a0 A renowned neurotrauma surgeon “happened” to be on duty that day;\u00a0 he is at this hospital only a few times a year.\u00a0 This doctor later stated that he had never seen anyone sustain so much damage to the spinal cord and carotid arteries and live.\u00a0 Clark was not only expected to live, but to return to full function.\u00a0 Describing himself as agnostic, the surgeon said Clark’s case went against all his scientific learning about neurological injuries and could only be described as a miracle.<\/p>\n

Has the Day of Miracles Ceased: October 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A year ago, on assignment in the state of California, I went with a stake president to visit with Clark and Holly Fales and their family in their home.\u00a0 I was told they recently had experienced a miracle.\u00a0 Upon their arrival, Clark struggled to stand and greet us as he was wearing a back brace, a neck bace, and braces on his arms. Just over two months prior Clark, his son Ty, and about 30 other young men and leaders set out on a stake high-advnture activity, hiking to the 1,180-foot (4,322m) summit of Mount Shasta, one of the highest peaks of California.\u00a0 On the second day of the arduous hike, most of the climbers reached the summit — a thrilling accomplishment made possible because of months of preparation. One of the first people to the top that day was Clark.\u00a0 After a brief rest near the edge of the summit, he stood and began to walk.\u00a0 As he did, he tripped and fell backward over the edge of a cliff, suffering a free fall of about 40 feet (12 m) and then an out-of-control tumble down the icy slope for another 300 feet (91 m).\u00a0 Remarkably, Clark survived, but he was severely injured and unable to move. The miracles Clark experienced during this traumatic event were just beginning,\u00a0 Some of the first to reach him “happened” to be a group of hikers that included mountain rescue guides and emergency medical professionals.\u00a0 They immediately treated Clark for shock and provided gear to keep him warm.\u00a0 This group also “happened” to be a testing a new communication device and sent an emergency request for help from an area where cell phones could not get a signal.\u00a0 A small helicopter was immediately dispatched to Mount Shasta from an hour away.\u00a0 After two dangerous but unsuccessful attempts to land at an altitude that pushed the limits of the aircraft, and struggling with treacherous wind conditions, the pilot began a third and final try.\u00a0 As the helicopter approached from a different angle, the winds “happened” to change and the aircraft landed just long enough for he group to quickly and\u00a0 painfully squeeze Clark into the small compartment behind the pilot’s seat. When Clark was evaluated at a trauma center, tests revealed that he had sustained multiple fractures in his neck, back ribs, and wrists; a punctured lung; and a multitude of cuts and abrasions.\u00a0 A renowned neurotrauma surgeon “happened” to be on duty that day;\u00a0 he is at this hospital only a few times a year.\u00a0 This doctor later stated that he had never seen anyone sustain so much damage to the spinal cord and carotid arteries and live.\u00a0 Clark was not only expected to live, but to return to full function.\u00a0 Describing himself as agnostic, the surgeon said Clark’s case went against all his scientific learning about neurological injuries and could only be described as a miracle. Has the Day of Miracles Ceased: October 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[43,44,42,40,41],"class_list":["post-519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hope","tag-blessings","tag-fingerprints-of-god","tag-god","tag-hope","tag-miracles","post_format-post-format-audio"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":917,"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebighopeletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}