Miracle. Webster defines it as ‘an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs’. Today we hear this word used so often that its true meaning is often forgotten. Nevertheless when an event occurs in which we feel helpless to affect the outcome we must rely on divine intervention. On October 17th 2002, Ron and Carol Thome would experience this firsthand. Carols faith as well as Rons would be put to the test. At 6:20 P.M. Carol was at work in the local grocery store when she received a phone call from Steve _____ a friend of the family. He told her that Ron had been involved in a serious accident and was at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids.

  Ron had worked at Wilbert Burial Vault (Grand Valley Concrete) for 37 years, delivering septic tanks to installers, cement products to the county road commission, and vaults to various  cemeteries. In 37 years of service Ron had never been in an accident nor received a traffic ticket illustrating Rons commitment to the safe operation of the heavy equipment which he operated daily.
  Ron was raised in Alpine Township the heart of west Michigan apple country. With his father passing away when Ron was only 5, he would assume many responsibilities beyond that of an average 5 year old. Especially since there was only he and his younger sister looking after their mother. As he grew older he worked his uncle's farm, assisting him with his crops. Being raised in the country Ron grew to appreciate nature and all that God had created. He loved to hunt and camp and spent time honing his shooting skills. He would eventually join the Sparta Gun Club and become known as one of the best shots around the region. Ron met Carol and on May 25th of 1983 they wed.

   From the years of working the farms and from his strenuous work at the vault company, he was a strapping 6’1”, 235 pounds at the time of the accident. (which doctors would later say contributed to saving his life). The collision of Rons’ vault truck with the propane truck left a mass of twisted metal and broken glass. Unfortunately the driver of the propane truck did not survive the accident. Ron had been catapulted through the windshield of his truck snapping the safety belt he was wearing. When EMT’s arrived on the scene they pulled Rons lifeless body from atop the hood between the two trucks and started CPR. Once resuscitated Ron was air lifted to Butterworth. Rescue personnel were amazed that Ron had even survived a crash of that magnitude at all.

  Upon arriving at the emergency entrance of the hospital Carol was met by two of their friends, Jerry Nagelkirk and Bill Sturrus. The doctor came out and informed Carol that Rons injuries were life threatening and that considering the extent of his injuries there would most likely be brain damage. At this time Ron was in the care of the trauma unit. While waiting for the trauma unit to stabilize Ron several friends made their way to the hospital to give Carol their support. The group of them waited together until it was time for Ron to be moved up to the 4th floor and the critical care unit. Ron was fighting for his life. He had to be resuscitated at one point. His injuries were quite extensive including internal bleeding. The doctors could not locate the source of the bleeding so exploratory surgery was scheduled. At 2:45 a.m. Ron was taken to O.R. The surgery lasted 3 ½ hours. After surgery Doctor Rodriguez came out to let Carol know that they had discovered that Rons lower bowel and colon were literally dead. The blood supply had been cut off. They removed 2 feet of the colon, put a colostomy and ileostomy bag in and extracted several liters of fluid and blood from Rons chest cavity.

When Carol was allowed in to see Ron she just stood there and cried. She hardly recognized him. The doctors had placed a halo on Ron to keep him from moving his head. His body had tubes coming from all over and he was on a ventilator.  After a while Carol was given the full list of Rons injuries. The left side of his pelvis was crushed, the hip was broken, vertebrae were cracked, and his left lung was badly damaged. There were multiple skull fractures consisting of, broken facial bones, eye socket damage, and sinus damage as well as gashes and cuts on his face and top of his head. One ear was sewed back in place and there were also lacerations on his left hand. Through it all though somehow Rons heart, liver and spleen were OK but doctors told Carol that any one of his internal injuries could be fatal. On top of all of this the neurologist told Carol that Ron had suffered brain and brain stem damage. Carol nearly collapsed. She broke down and cried wondering how she was going to get through this. Jerry was there and he prayed for the peace of God to come over Carol. She knew she had to focus on what God could do despite what she was being told. She knew she had to look for His miracles and that she couldn’t let fear take hold of her.

Over the next several days there was a host of people that would come and give Carol their support. In retrospect Carol would come to consider that these people were as angels sent from heaven to help her in her and Rons time of need. The pastors and elders of Christian Fellowship Assembly, as well as the congregation, kept the two held up before their God and waited to see what God would do.

After a short time Ron slipped into a coma. Carol kept a vigil by his bedside watching everything the nurses and doctors were doing and at times in frustration would point out things that she felt they had missed. Through all of the ups and downs Carol remained standing on what she had been taught in her church for years. God moves through people and will still perform miracles.

After approximately a week in the hospital Ron started showing some signs of improvement. Carol had come up to Rons room and while standing next to his bed she placed her hand in his. She asked him that if he knew her hand was in his hand to squeeze. Rons responded by squeezing Carols hand. Hard! He tried to breath over his ventilators and set off the alarms. The nurse on duty as well as Carol were convinced this was not a reflex. She continued her bedside vigil for days. Then weeks. Each week noticing improvements in Ron. They would realize some very high highs and very low lows. But the doctors were always there to remind Carol that there would be times like these and to focus on the highs. This she did. It seemed like Ron was constantly being tested for one thing or another and Carol would be there for every one. Near the end of October the doctors were considering surgery to repair the badly damaged hip. X-rays were taken for the doctors to review. It was decided to wait.

Over the next few weeks Ron would struggle with complications from his condition such as pneumonia and things seemed to deteriorate. Carol, feeling confident that Ron would pull through and recover fully, was shocked when Rons condition started to take a turn for the worse. Doctors told her she should start making arrangements for Rons funeral. She spoke with Jerry _____ and he told her for Rons sake as well as hers she should go ahead and at least make the arrangements. Reluctantly She did as she was instructed and picked out everything she thought Ron would like but even while going through the process Carol would tell everyone that she was still believing God for a miracle even though inside she was being completely torn. She finished making the arrangements for Ron and again turned to the Lord and prayed. The following week the pastors from Carols church came with the elders and they went up to his room. There they prayed, laid there hands on Ron and sang to the Lord songs of praise and worship. Later, when the group would discuss what they felt as they prayed and sang, all agreed that they sensed something great had taken place in the spirit.

One week later Ron was still hanging on. He had been scheduled for x-rays on his hip and pelvis region. Upon review by the doctors they found to their amazement that there was no sign of fracture to the femur, pelvis, hip or cervical. No sign. The very next day Ron was wide awake and responding. Over the next few weeks Rons condition would continue to improve and his need for assistance by a breathing machine would incrementally be reduced until he no longer needed it at all. The Halo that kept him from moving his head would be removed also.