Joshua’s Story

DAY 1 – 17 FEBRUARY 2014 – MONDAY

Late afternoon swimming in Knysna Lagoon at Bollard beach with his brothers and other friends. It was a bit crowded so he moved from his usual position, dived in and hit his head on a sandbank. His arms went lame. Being a qualified lifeguard he knew instinctively that something was seriously wrong. He surfaced very slowly, managed to get back to the beach and asked his brother Zach to go home and call their Dad.

Joshua was taken to Knysna Private Hospital which is the nearest and has a Casualty Department. He was seen by the G.P. on duty who called for X-Rays to be done. He then also called for the local Orthopaedic Surgeon to come in. Together they concluded that Josh had a C5 compression fracture and serious displacement of the spinal column. He was fitted with a neck brace and admitted to a ward overnight.

DAY 2 – 18 FEBRUARY 2014 – TUESDAY

Next morning our daughter Suzy met with the Orthopaedic Surgeon who said it was necessary to operate that afternoon and said the procedure would cost about R100 K. She explained they did not have the money as her husband was unemployed and they would have to go Provincial. The Surgeon kindly offered to put her in touch with the Spinal Unit at Groote Schuur in Cape Town. Groote Schuur said that in order to get into the Provincial System Josh would have to go to George Provincial Hospital first.

(Josh was released from Knysna Private Hospital and Suzy paid the R4 800 charge by credit card. I mention this because on arriving home she found an envelope on the kitchen counter containing R5 000 cash. No name, no message – nothing. She says she sensed then that maybe God was working in their situation.)

Josh was taken to George Provincial Hospital that afternoon (Tuesday) and after a long admission procedure with further X-Rays etc. was assessed by a Neuro-Surgeon and an Orthopaedic Surgeon who both came to the same diagnosis of a C5 fracture. Also confirmed by the Professor in the Spinal Unit at Groote Schuur . The doctors told Josh that the fact that he was still walking made him extremely lucky. He was told that he would never play sport again, that a plate would be put in to stabilise his neck which in effect would permanently limit movement. And that the dislocation of his neck was such that if he sneezed wrong he could be permanently paralysed. That his injury was a major injury and he would be flat on his back for a minimum of 3 months.

In all five doctors confirmed the fracture,dislocation and torn ligaments. Later the Professor in Cape Town said to keep Josh in George because there was no bed in I.C.U. to accommodate him. She also asked for an MRI to be done.

DAY 3 – 19 FEBRUARY 2014 – WEDNESDAY

The MRI machine at George Provincial Hospital was out of action so Josh would have to go back to Knysna Private Hospital. He was transferred sitting up in an ambulance for the 60 km. trip.

He was upset, frustrated and uncertain of what the outcome of this accident would be. He said that on the journey he remembers praying, asking God to heal him because he couldn’t face an operation and a long convalescence.

The MRI was done in Knysna and the radiologist refused to allow him to go back by ambulance and called the Emergency Medical Helicopter to transfer him back to George at about 4 p.m.

By this time Laurine and I had arrived in Knysna having left Johannesburg at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. To see Josh strapped up on a board ready to be airlifted to George left us all shaken and uncertain of the future.

(Also at this time we were surprised and uplifted by so many messages of support and prayers from all over the country and here also at Elm Park and Rosebank Union Church, which were of great comfort, also realising God was in control – a message given to us by a stranger we met at the B & B the night before.)

DAY 4 – 20 FEBRUARY 2014 – THURSDAY

What would this day hold? Our son-in-law was called to the doctor’s office to be told by the two Specialists and with the concurrence of the Professor at Groote Schuur that the X-Rays from Day 1 – there was a fracture and dislocation and the X-Rays and MRI on Day 3 – showed no fracture and no dislocation. Josh could go home wearing a neck brace. School after two weeks and no sport for a while.

We were all overcome and relieved. An experience over four days that none of us in our family will ever forget. The next week Josh was back at school and In just 6 weeks Josh is completely healed and has taken up his normal life of hockey, gym and riding his motorbike.

I have written this account as a memorial of praise and thanksgiving to God our Father and Jesus Christ our Saviour for His grace and miraculous healing.

We will not stop telling this story!