MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN!

Bernard and Dehan Swanevelder It happened at 14:00, on Monday 28 April 2003! While we were helping friends move into their flat, our 6 year old son, Bernard, got onto the rail on the third floor, lost his balance and fell to the ground! There was nothing that could break his fall and his small body hit the ground in a horizontal line… I saw him falling and the feeling of powerlessness was so overwhelming because there was absolutely nothing I could do to prevent the inevitable! The look of fear on Bernard's face will stay with me for as long as I live. He told me later that he closed his eyes because he did not want to see when he was going to hit the ground. Scrambling from the bakkie where I had been sitting, I ran to him where he was lying motionless… Blood was pouring from his ear and I thought he had already died! I called his name but could not get him to respond. I started praying and begged God not to take him away from us. After a short while he started making whimpering noises which sounded terrible, but I was so relieved to hear him utter a sound that I did not care that it sounded like someone dying. The only thought burning in my mind was to get him to hospital as quickly as humanly possible. The thought of worsening a back or neck injury by picking him up did not cross my mind at that stage. I yelled to Ilette to get the car keys. We drove to the Union Hospital in Alberton and 3 minutes later we rushed him into the emergency room where some of the staff members immediately started with emergency treatment. Back at the flat our friends found Bernard's 8 year old brother, Dehan, sitting underneath the stairs, crying! With the other kids present, all were given sugar water to drink and everybody started praying and asked God to spare Bernard's life. In the meantime the waiting in the hospital was unbearable. We could hear Bernard whining and complaining that they were hurting his head and foot. We did not know if he was going to survive this ordeal. After a period of time, that felt like a year to us, the trauma surgeon came out and said that they were taking Bernard for a CAT scan. During our time of waiting, Ilette phoned a lot of people and I started sending SMSs to others and requested that they pray for Bernard. About 30 minutes later the trauma surgeon told us that the CAT scan showed two fractures to the scull but otherwise everything seemed normal. Bernard did not break any bones and no internal organs had been damaged! What a miracle had already taken place! Bernard however had to be sedated very heavily with morphine and valium to stop him from having epileptic fits. He was taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where he was connected to numerous machines which started beeping immediately assuring everybody that this patient was still alive! The neurosurgeon warned us that the next 3 days were going to be critical. The first thing they had to do was to stop any swelling of the brain and the second area of concern was the blood and brain fluid that had been seeping from his ear. However, this was a blessing in disguise, as they did not have to operate to relieve the pressure on the brain! But this could however, also pave the way for infection which could lead to meningitis which would have been fatal! The surgeon also told us that he could not tell us at that stage if there had been any brain damage. During Bernard's first day in hospital he slept most of the time. During his stay in the ICU they had to replace the drip needle 4 times and it had been very traumatic for him because every time they struggled to find a suitable vein. One time they battled for more than an hour and we fled from the room to try and escape from the pain he was going through! Twenty four hours after the accident however, everybody just stood amazed at the speed of his recovery! The trauma surgeon, the neurosurgeon, as well as the paediatrician only shook their heads each time they visited him. How had it been possible for a person to fall from the third storey of a building and recover so quickly and so complete within such a short period of time? The most amazing thing however, was when the paediatrician asked Bernard if he could remember how he felt when he hit the ground. Bernard's reply was that he did NOT hit the ground but that someone had caught him… We firmly believe that the Lord had sent His angels to catch him and put him down safely on the ground so that he did not sustain any serious injuries! Even after his release from hospital, Bernard remains adamant that someone had caught him and that he did not fall on the ground! Bernard was moved from the ICU on the morning of 30 April and was taken to one of the medical wards where he stayed until his release the next day. The doctors said he should recover fully without any scars or difficulty after this accident. What a miracle! What a great God! Nardus, Ilette, Dehan and Bernard Swanevelder Tel. (011) 869 9514 Fax (011) 869 0209