God’s grace is found in many different shapes, sizes and places, some obvious and others unexpected. For Cindy Fisher, then 29, it showed up in the trauma unit of the Allentown Sacred Heart Hospital.
When she, her husband and her daughter were in a serious car accident, they ended up in two separate hospitals. After being cut from the car with the use of the “jaws of life,” and life-flighted to the hospital, Fisher was diagnosed with Traumatic Closed Head Brain Injury and a broken jaw in several places.
The doctors told her family she was lucky to be alive, but there wasn’t much hope for full recovery. They needed to prepare themselves, as her brain function would likely be extremely diminished.
Her husband and daughter’s injuries were less severe, and although still in need of care at home, they were soon out of the hospital. She, however, remained there for another month. At the time of her discharge there were more questions than answers, and a decision had to be made.
Should she be placed in a nursing home?
Who would care for her?
Her family quickly decided against the nursing home, and her sister acquired the needed equipment to care for her in her home.
“With the grace of God,” Fisher said, “our families made changes that interrupted their everyday lives to care for our special needs.”
This was no small task, and required much personal sacrifice.
“I was the most difficult to car for,” Fisher said. “I had lost my short term memory and most of my lifetime memories, my fine motor skills had disappeared, and I had continual hallucinations. A minute seemed like hours to me.”
Although recovery was a long process, she didn’t have to go through it alone. She was supported and prayed for by family, friends and various churches.
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| From left: Cindy, Lloyd and Melissa Fisher at Melissa's Graduation from Nursing college in 2008 |
Now 55, Fisher praises God each day for her family, friends and life. After her recovery, she was able to continue her roles as a wife, mother, sister, friend and now grandmother of two.
“I truly believe in the power of prayer and God’s grace,” she said. “I know in my heart that I would not have come this far without God’s grace.”
She has known God since she was a child and was baptized twice—first at the age of 12, then at 22 when she felt she better understood the reasons for it.
When she meets people who are in similar situations to what she went through, she hopes her story will be an encouragement to them as she keeps them in her prayers.
