“When I look in the mirror I see a miracle.” – Chad Sartell

Miracle in the Mirror

“I was in a coma for about a month and a half.”  Chad Sartell said with firm determination.

When Chad awakened from that coma he ripped the tubes attached to his arms and other places in his stitched-back-together body.  Then, as soon as his feet hit the hospital room floor he was in another crash.  He lay there, on the cold floor, until attending nurses could rush to his aid.

“You’re in the hospital.”  One of the nurses explained.  “You were in a motorcycle crash and have been in a coma.”

“I don’t ride a motorcycle!”  Chad agitatedly shot back.

The medical team lifted him back into bed and connected all of the life saving devices back into his body.  They worked to calm him as best as they could.  He was healing, but it had taken an eighteen-hour surgery to get him reassembled.

 “The doctor removed the C3 in my spine and put an artificial piece in its place.”  Chad explained.  “That was the trickiest part of the surgery.  Most people having that type of trauma don’t live through it.”

Wondrously, he lived through the surgery and afterward he had no recollection of his accident.  

“My wife came in and had to show me photos of the accident before I would believe it!”  He laughed.

That personal and visual visit marked the real beginning of his conscious recovery.

“I was at the mental and physical ability of a four-year-old.”  He reflectively explained.  “I had to re-learn everything.”

And, now he is enjoying his home, learning and searching for the purpose of his preservation and marveling at the second chance he’s received.  We were sitting at his kitchen table when he turned his head and motioned to the hardwood flooring he had installed with his once mangled hands.  Then, his gaze wondered past the floor and freshly painted walls to the deck he had re-built and made into an oasis, where he, his wife and children often sit together.  It’s their place in the trees.  It gives them a lofty view of the wooded ravine and lake a few steps away from their home.

Yet, there are two other views which are, perhaps more inspiring.  The first is Chad’s view of his future.

“I don’t know how I lived through the accident.  And, I don’t know why I lived through it.  I just know that I was preserved for a reason.  So, I spend every day searching for my yet to be discovered purpose!”  Chad explained before he revealed the second view of his future.

“When I look in the mirror I see a miracle.” Chad said with restrained emotion. “I am the miracle in the mirror!”

Do you see a miracle in your mirror?