By Gary Florence
On August 3rd 2022 when I arrived at work, there was a message from my wife (Robin) she was crying and said “I think I am having a stroke, I called my sister and she is on her way.” My workplace is 30 miles from our home.
She was taken by ambulance to our local ER where she also works at. So the drivers knew her and her coworkers knew she was coming. When I got there I was met by her nurse and my sister in law (Wendy). The nurse said she was having a CT Scan and that they believed she was having a brain haemorrhage and a helicopter was on its way.
When she got back to the ER room she was in a lot of pain, a few moments later she leaves out this blood curling yell and falls into a coma. Her nurse runs past me and yells “Respiratory Stat Room 7” and the announcement was made over the intercom by now her co-workers know that is the room Robin is in and they are getting very concerned. | 16 Hours in Heaven: Bill Hembree’s testimony |
Seven or 8 people came rushing in and started to gather around her. I was pushed back into a corner and all I could think to do was stretch out my hand towards her and let the Holy Spirit lead me in prayer. We found out later that when the doctor in the ER saw her scans, he said “This is bad, this is very bad.”
The helicopter arrived and she was flown to another hospital 62 miles away. While driving there I received a phone call that said “We are in a fatal situation and are doing everything we can to keep your wife alive on the OR table.” I still had about a 45 minute drive. Something or should I say someone (Holy Spirit) rose up on the inside of me and I felt this authority come over me and I said, “No, No”. I spoke out aloud: “In the name of Jesus I command the Spirit of death to leave the OR now.” Once again I felt the Holy Spirit lead me into how I ought to pray.
When I arrived at the hospital, the receptionist met us and said “You have the best of the best working on your wife.” God knows the beginning to the end and the end to the beginning, He was dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s weeks, months even years knowing that the 3rd of August, 2022 was coming. When the surgeon was in his mother’s womb and God was weaving the tapestry of his life putting gifts and callings to be a surgeon knowing that one day His daughter would be suspended between death and life and this man would have to be called upon.
Through prayer and the grace of God she survived. The surgeon said they go by a severity chart of 1-5 with 5 being the most severe. He said your wife was at the top of a 5. He also said when someone is at a 5, 1/3 will die before they get to the hospital, 1/3 will die on the OR table and the 1/3 who do survive 1/3 of them will leave the hospital permanently disabled.
When I walked into her room after surgery she was laying there on life support, there were so many IVs sticking out of her. They had shaven her head right up the middle and placed a plastic tube in it and was draining blood into a bag. I took one look at her and turned toward the wall and began to sob. I thought to myself this is not my wife to whom I said good bye, love you, see you tonight just a few hours ago.
The next day one of the team members came in and pointed to Robin and said “That lady should not be lying there. It was that bad. It truly is a miracle.”
She spent the next 42 days in hospitals 23 of them in ICU on and off life support and in and out of comas. She spent 32 days at this hospital, where I work. They were so good to me and allowed me to be off so I could be with the love of my life. I drove every day 1 hour and 30 min. each way so I could hold her hand and be there for her.
I did not sit at her bedside begging, pleading, making deals with God. I sat as a son co-laboring, partnering with my Father calling those things that be not as if they were. I spoke life, healing, abundance, acceleration, etc. day after day. I watched with my own eyes my wife go from death to life. I saw one miracle after another take place in her body. I saw but God moments, the sudden God moments take place throughout her journey.
While in the ICU she would have severe spasms in the blood vessels of her brain and they would have to do an emergency procedure called an angiogram. I got a call one night at 9:20 and they said we need to do this procedure now. The next day I went in and the doctor who did it was standing over her moving her right arm all around. When he left, the nurse came up to me and said “ I am sorry to inform you but your wife’s right side has been compromised and as bad as it is she will never regain full strength or mobility. I said “Ma’am I believe in the power of prayer.” She said to me that she is a Christian too and also believes in prayer. So I told her to get on one side of Robin and I will get on the other side and let’s pray about it.
That night as I pulled into the driveway of our home, this is as close to the audible voice of God I have ever heard. I heard such a strong resounding word in my Spirit “Whose word are you going to believe, man’s word or My word?” I began to weep sitting in the car and I yelled “I choose to believe Your word.” The next day I was in her room and the same doctor came in and asked me how I thought my wife was looking. I said a lot better than 24 hours ago and he said he thought the same too. No sooner did he say that than Robin threw her right hand over her head and he said “OK now she is just showing off.”
She has full motion, range and strength. She is not compromised in any way, she is fully healthy and has recovered in a remarkable way.
On November 7th she went back to work part time. She drove the car herself and on December 1st she returned to work full time. Her faith grew and became more resolved. Robin is not only my wife, companion but she is my best friend and I am honored to be called her husband.
The writer and his wife live in Frederick, Maryland, USA.
Support us to support you! You can support this website by your prayerful contributions. Make a donation now by PayPal.
