Accident or Attack?

The waves looked a little angry, but not so vicious that I didn’t want to enter them.

A few of the swimming group decided that it wasn’t their day to get wet.

It was just the two of us who dared to go into the cold.

We stood at the water's edge waiting for the next wave to come and go, then we would move forward.

We passed through a two-foot wave, then another pushed us down. We got back up, laughed, and moved forward.

Out of nowhere, a five-foot wave headed for us. I panicked and turned my back on it. The wave was so powerful that it took my right leg and twisted it back, and I felt a pop sensation. The water dragged me back to shore, the stones grazing my legs. I thought, “shit, I've broken my leg and I'm supposed to go to Crete with my sister to help her with her kids.” The other thought rushed in, “Clive doesn’t need this in his life right now”

I tried to stand, but I struggled, so I asked my fellow swimmer for a hand.

She had dived into the wave and let the wave go over her, so she was unscathed.

Fellow swimmers supported me as I tried to elevate my leg on a large rock.

The other non-swimmers asked if they could help in any way.

I was encouraged to ring Clive and get him to drive me home.

Before getting in the car, I took off my costume, and a cascade of little black stones fell to the ground.

When I got home, I hobbled up the stairs and took a shower, noticing that I had cuts on my right leg from all the stones when the wave dragged me.

An hour later, we were on route to A&E. After a long wait,

I had an X-ray and was told that nothing was broken, but there was a lot of swelling. I was told not to weight bear, use crutches, and elevate and ice my knee over the weekend. I would then be seen in the fracture clinic and sent for an MRI.

Within hours of returning, my knee ballooned to twice its original size.

Over the coming days and weeks, I was able to weight-bare and then have an MRI.

The wait for the MRI results was tough. I just wanted to know what I had done to my knee.

I kept underplaying it. Thinking I had pulled a muscle or maybe torn my meniscus.

I finally had an appointment to talk with a doctor. He took one look at my huge brace and said, “Shall we take that off you, as it's not helping?” He told me that I had completely torn my ACL; it was a total rupture.

We discussed what that meant and what I needed to do. I told him how I attended the gym three times a week and that I was a sea swimmer. He then said that he usually wouldn’t refer a 54-year-old woman for surgery, but felt that if I wanted to continue my active lifestyle, then surgery would be the route to take. He advised me to start physiotherapy and then see how I was regarding an operation.

Another long wait to see a Physio, but I got a four-week plan and started exercising.

Throughout this waiting and sitting, thoughts would go through my head.

‘If I had only faced the wave and not given in to fear, I would not be in this position now.’

 

I wondered if this was the enemy attacking me.

I thought, ‘What if the enemy wanted to wipe me out completely, but God had sent angels to protect me?’

That led me to think about how much we have been saved from.

How many times do we question where God was in this situation? Not seeing the bigger picture or heavenly perspective that actually shows God has had His hand on our lives and protected us much more than we think or know about.

I love that Jesus intercedes for us and that he prays for our protection.

 

Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:11

 

 

My journey is not over with this leg of mine. I am waiting for healing, I am waiting to see what the Doctor says about surgery. Waiting has never been my strong suit. I know that I can choose to learn or complain while waiting.

I don’t know what situation you are in as you read this, but I know that God is with you in it.

You may be waiting for test results, and you are worried. He is in the waiting.

You may be at a crossroads in your life and don’t know which path to take.

He is at the junction with you.

Keep on trusting Him. Continue to talk to Him; give Him your worries, doubts, and fears.

He will answer you and direct you.

 

I know God is a God to be trusted. I also know that whatever we may be feeling. He feels it too.

He created our emotions, and we can express all our feelings to Him.

 

 

 

My flesh and my heart may fail,

But God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways submit to him,

And he will make your paths straight.  

Proverbs 3:5-6