About Miracles (2013) - full transcript

[music]

[gunshots]

[sirens]

(narrator)

ln a world that seems
increasingly out of control,

every once in a while
we hear stories

that make us stop and wonder.

Stories that confront us

with evidence of things
we can't see or measure.

Stories that seem
to pull back a curtain

revealing One
who is still in charge.



Everyone has faith in something.

[dramatic music]

Brian came to the U.S.
as a visitor from India.

But he overstayed his
visa so he could work

and send money back
to his struggling family.

Later, he was joined
by his wife and brother.

I and my wife did file
for our legal status.

We got approved.

But then again
for our green card,

our permanent residence,
we had to file again.

There was a lot of money
involved in this process

and we were basically
just working

and paying the lawyers
the money.

For some reason or the other,
it always used to get denied.



We used to appeal,
it used to get denied

and this used to take years,

like five years,
six years, seven years

and still we never
had our legal status

and it was just going
on and going on.

[music]

Even though Brian was troubled,

he was not without
close friends.

I met Brian about 15 years ago.

He was working at
an Indian restaurant.

He was a waiter there

and was running
the restaurant, too.

We became friends
because I was attending

the restaurant quite a bit.

I got close to one family.

He was Italian.
His wife was a Filipino.

So, we actually grew
very close to each other.

When his wife and daughter
came to the country,

we became family friends

and we started socializing
outside of the restaurant

and had a kindred
spirit together.

Brian's one of those guys
that's easy to trust.

He's a real friend to you.

My wife was carrying
my child, in fact,

and the child died
in the stomach.

And after that the next
week my brother died.

And after my brother dying,
it was completely...

I was lost completely.

[music]

We got even closer

after his brother passed
away of a heart attack

and we were there
together at that time

and the roots went
a lot deeper after that.

So, it was like one after
another things happening.

And I never had my papers.

So things were getting,
you know, real tough.

[honk! honk!]

After that I did couple of
odd jobs here and there,

driving a taxi, and then
working in the gas stations.

Then again, I joined one
of my very good friend,

his gas station I joined.

So I was working with the owners
who were Muslims

and they knew I was Christian

but that did not, you know,
make any difference for them.

I was a person
who they could trust.

The customers,
they knew me by name, in fact.

Because it was a while
I used to work there...

it was maybe seven...
five, six years.

They shared a very
close relationship.

Whatever house
problems they had,

they used to come
and let me know about it.

And in that neighborhood,
basically,

they said that neighborhood
is a crime.

Lots of crime happening
here, there, shootouts,

but I never felt that fright

that something is going
to happen to me because

I used to be friendly with
everybody over there, in fact.

[music]

I did get my work permit
and my social

but that also got denied

because my sponsor couldn't
show sufficient funds

and then my papers
went to the court;

went to the court saying

that as your papers
cannot go move ahead,

you have to go back
to your country.

You have to leave.

Yeah, we had gotten
a letter that says

we were going to get
deported and...

I mean, my parents
never told me much

not to affect me

because I was like,
"Oh, deported."

Didn't realize...
I was in seventh grade...

Didn't really understand
what that meant

or anything so it was like,
"Oh, okay."

I thought, "Oh yeah,
we're going to India!

"It's fun!
Haven't seen my grandparents."

But to my family,

that means back to suffering,
back to hard work.

So, I was in
a removal proceedings.

That means they would
send me back home to India.

We used to ask ourselves
why is this happening to us.

Why is this happening to us?

And I knew a lot of people
who said that,

"You don't have to go back,

"you can stay here.

"You have ten years of hardship

"with your children here.

You can still live here."

But my case was
already in the court.

I couldn't... if I go in
any part of the U.S.

they will know with my
car insurance or residence

or anything that I would
have been in trouble.

So I said, "You know what?
I will leave."

Either they had to change the
law or give everybody asylum,

or some new law had to come

and that was nothing which would
take place at that very moment.

One day, Brian was working
the daytime shift

at the convenience store instead
of his normal overnight shift.

It was approximately at 10:30
in the night, 10:30 to 10:45.

That was a time

when I was supposed
to get over with my shift.

So I was doing all my
paperwork and everything.

So I was all by myself.

So there was one regular
customer who I knew him

and he was all by himself.

He asked me, he wanted to buy
something, so he asked me,

"Can I get this?"

[scary music]

So at that time, as I told you,

I did not consider it
a fright that,

I was scared of that place
because everybody knew me.

So I went out.

As soon as I went out
I opened the door

and I went out to open
the phone accessories.

Suddenly, three guys
came running in

and they have guns
in their hands.

I thought it was a joke
because I really never thought

that it was something real
happening, it was a robbery.

They turned me around for me
to come in the bulletproof

where the register is.

So as I turned... [gunshot]...
Not doing nothing,

they just shot me
in the back of my leg.

[music]

After that,
when I gave them the money,

I was just praising God

and there was only three words
I was continuously raising,

"Thank you, Jesus.
Praise you, Jesus.

I love you, Jesus."

So once I opened
both the registers

they caught me by my shoulder
and they dragged me

because they knew
that in the office,

there was money in there.

As they were taking me
to the office,

I saw rays on the floor,
with golden words, "Jesus,"

and I could see it.

That was a time basically
gave me more of that faith

that nothing is going
to happen to me.

That Jesus is there
with me, and here He is.

But still I was telling
these words,

"Thank you, Jesus.
Praise, Jesus.

I love you, Jesus."

I could hear the other person
with the gun telling me,

"Give me the money!"

And that's the time I told him,

"Okay, take the money
on the side,"

because I knew we
always kept a hundred ones.

It was in the drawer.

[music]

[gunshot]

[heart beating sounds]

[music]

I dragged myself all the way
down to the phone.

Tried to dial 911.

I put the phone in my ear and
I could not hear the dial tone.

So I was under the impression

there was something
wrong with the phone.

There was chunks of blood
just coming out.

Never in my life I seen
that chunks just coming out

and I was getting suffocated
because I could not breathe.

Again, I tried to dial 911.

So still I could not hear
the dial tone

so I just kept the phone
and I just hung my head down

and I was just on the ground

and then suddenly one
of a customer who I knew,

he came in and he
looked at me and saying,

"Oh, Brian! What happened?"

So he knew that something
wrong has happened

because he could see the blood.

So suddenly he dialed 911.

I was scared.

[ news interview] Blood was
coming all out of his mouth.

This man doesn't want to be
identified after he found

the Citgo convenience store
clerk shot inside the store.

Is that my dad?

The man says
he entered the store

to find the clerk
alone and injured

and that he'd been
shot in the head.

[siren]

ln my position,

I was the chief surgery
resident at the time.

So when a trauma alert comes in

a lot of times

if it's just kind of
a run of the mill,

not too heavy trauma,

I let some of the
junior residents

take care of it for
their own experience.

I called down there and they say

it's a gunshot
wound to the head.

So obviously,
that's a pretty serious injury.

That's not something I let the
junior residents take care of.

So I rushed down there
and I get down there

and I wonder where the guy is.

Usually, there's
a lot of hoopla.

Usually everybody is frantic,
trying to get things done

and that just wasn't occurring

and there's this guy in the
trauma bay just sitting there

and he looked
completely comfortable.

We found some blood
in his right ear

and he had a wound
in his left neck

and he also had
a gunshot wound to his leg

but for a gunshot wound
to the head, I mean, this...

He shouldn't have...

First of all... chances are he
probably wouldn't have lived.

Second of all, if you get there

after a gunshot wound to the
head you are in a bad way.

So, after we find out
that they're stable

we do a slew of tests.

We do check-labs,
which is basic labs.

We get a plain film of the
C-spine, of the cervical spine.

We also get a plain film
of the chest.

Bullets are tricky; they can
go anywhere so you never know.

And then after that,

we knew it was probably
an entry wound

to the right ear and an exit
wound to the left.

There's a lot of
important structures

in-between those two points.

Because we thought he
most likely had an injury

and even if he didn't
have an obvious injury,

we would need to take him
to the operating room

to make sure of that

because there's so many
structures in-between there,

if you don't diagnose it
and treat it right away,

it can be fatal later on.

Then they told me over there
that my husband was shot

and he is inside
the surgery room

and there's no chances of
what's going to happen to him

because he was shot in his head.

He was vomiting chunks
of blood and everything.

Bindu was just
screaming over the phone.

She was... she was really,
really upset and she said,

"Brian's been shot!"

And my husband got the call

and was talking and
his tone was serious.

He had been shot
in the leg with a .45

and he'd been shot through
the ear and neck with a .45

and apparently he had
lost a lot of blood

and she actually thought
he was going to die.

Ninety-five percent of people
who are shot in the head

will die and only two percent
will live without disabilities.

Brian's chances of survival
were even lower

since he was shot with a .45,

the largest practical
handgun caliber in use.

A bigger hole means more
damage and faster blood loss.

The bullet came in right here

but before it even
got to the bone,

it actually ducked down
into the soft tissue

and it broke the mandible here.

So it didn't completely
traverse the bone.

Now if it would have done that,
if it would have gone up,

obviously it would
have hit the brain.

That would have
either killed him

or resulted in pretty
significant disability.

If it would have gone
straight across,

his eardrum is right here

and the carotid artery
is right there,

so we're talking
less than an inch?

We're talking maybe a centimeter
difference between that artery

and where the bullet
actually ended up going.

Fortunate for him it went down

and even more fortunate
for him it didn't hit

any of the important
structures in the neck.

As it traversed the neck,

it would have had
to miss his windpipe,

it would have had
to miss his trachea,

it would have had
to miss his esophagus,

which is directly behind it.

Then, behind that
you've got the spinal column.

So it missed all three of those
structures on the right side,

then it went across

and it essentially missed
most of the structures

on the left side.

It barely caught

part of his
internal jugular vein

but barely caught it.

I mean, we did fix it

but if it would have been
a very significant injury,

he probably would
have died from it.

When bullets hit solid objects
it causes them to tumble.

So a bullet doesn't always
go in a straight course.

Once it hits something
solid it tumbles

and it can spin like
a curveball spins.

Fortunate for him it took a
spin and it spun in his favor.

I mean, it could have...

With all these structures it
should have hit something.

He said, "You know what?

Mrs. Fernandez, it's a miracle."

I came and saw Brian.

He was in a very bad condition

but I didn't think
what's going to happen

but I would say it's a miracle.

I saw thousands of traumas
when I was at ORMC

and this was a standout.

Because he basically
just turned around

and just cold, just pointblank
fired at the clerk.

You know, God had to have
been on the clerk's side

because it looks like
he's going to make it.

But, you know, that's the devil
at work right there.

She was weak from,

I guess, crying all night

but happy and excited
that he had survived.

He had survived the surgery,

which nobody really

initially thought he would.

She had many people that were
praying for him that night.

It was like the dark night
with the bright morning.

That morning was the best
morning in my whole life

because I got my
husband back, yeah!

[music]

We actually left to see him
the next day

when she called us
and said, "He made it."

We were already planning
on coming down

for the kids' spring break
within a couple of days.

So we just pulled the kids
out of school.

It was like a second reason

that became our main
priority at that time,

"We've got to get down there."

Later on that evening
we arrived in Orlando

and we went to look for Brian
in the hospital

but there wasn't
anybody registered

in his name in the hospital.

Because he was shot,

the people who shot him
were still unaccounted for.

So after getting through
to Bindu on the phone,

we kind of crept to
the right area and...

My wife and I wanted
to bring the kids.

We wanted them to see
this miracle in action.

When we got there,

we were just kind of grossed out

and we didn't really
want to look at him.

Like afraid of
what we would see.

I remember walking
through the hallway.

I was all nervous like,
"Okay, let's do this."

And I was all nervous

and when I saw him he didn't
seem like he was speaking.

You expect to see just so much
awfulness in front of you

and even though there
was that aspect,

it was like his warm smile
was still there.

I just couldn't believe that he
didn't have any real problems.

I said, "Brian... are you able
to hear me out of your ear?

Your bad ear where
you got shot?"

He says, "Yes."

He had bandages.

There was a lot of swelling
around his neck.

I remember seeing that.

Tubes coming out,
just kind of draining,

a lot of drainage
and he looked tired,

just really tired, still groggy.

To see that first hand

and to see the evidence
of God's hand immediately.

It's just surreal.

For about a week or so,

I never even got to go to
the hospital to see my dad

because he was
in the critical care

and then I had my sisters.

We can't all go together so I
had to stay home for a while.

"L"...."L".

Seeing your dad on the bed
and he's in pain,

it's really not good because
he's had a heart attack before.

He suffered so much.

You know, he was just on his...
He was in pain.

So it was really hard
to see him like that.

And so it was really hard.

Because I really love my dad

and knowing that I could

almost lose him
really scared me.

So it was really scary.

[music]

I was in the hospital 11 days.

So after that I was discharged.

It was like my kids,

"Dad has come home!
Dad has come home!"

"Doing the bed, doing the cot."

"You don't do this,
you don't do that."

I said, "Brian, are you
in any pain?"

He says, "No!"

I said, "Are you not taking any
pain medicine or anything?"

I think he said he took Advil.

That's just for the pain,
if I get some pain

but I’m not having because,
praise God, there's no pain.

After this incident
taking place, two months,

I had good rest, I stayed
with my family and after that,

I thought as I’m okay,
"Let's get back to work."

He was excited to go back
to that neighborhood

and tell everybody, "I’m alive!"

And he was very proud

that Jesus gave him a new life.

But at the same time
when he told me

he's going to go back
to that gas station

I was a bit scared.

I won't lie to you.

"Oh, no! Don't do that!

"You know, they're going
to come back again.

"They're going to shoot you

"and that's not the right place.

"You be in the house
or you work somewhere

but I’m not going to
send you over there."

So I just told her
one thing, I said,

"What they had to do, they did!

"And God saved me!

"So I don't think
any more than that.

What more than
that could they do?"

[music]

So we all said for him to go
but yet we were really scared.

When I went back to work,
no doubt there was four guys.

Three were caught
and the fourth,

the main shooter was not caught.

He was out on the streets.

But still, there was no fright.

I went to the place

and I started telling
my testimony whoever came.

And all my customers
were so happy seeing me

and it was like overnight

I became something like,
"Hey, that's the miracle man."

[music]

When I met Brian

he was actually in
immigration court

in what we call
removal proceedings,

which means that the government

was attempting to remove him
from this country.

The reason he came to me

is that he was looking
for what we attorneys call

some sort of relief
from removal or deportation.

There is a very...

What I would call a rare type
of visa that is available.

The purpose behind the U-Visa,
the reason that it's out there,

is for the U.S. government
to be able to know

that their witnesses are going
to be available for them

when they are prosecuting
the criminals.

They don't want
the witnesses deported

so they can't be in
a criminal courtroom.

So if you are a victim
of a horrendous crime

but either the perpetrators
will never be found,

or the perpetrators have
already been convicted

and by the time
you come to see me,

it's already been said and done,

you're probably not going
to be able to get that visa.

Then you have to have the local
authorities wanting to assist,

in this case, Brian by signing
an affidavit declaring

that they need him and they need
him to stay in this country.

It was a long process
and a difficult process for him

because even though
we filed the application,

just filing the application
does not remove him

from immigration court.

He had to be approved before the
court would dismiss his case.

And again, we needed
some sort of relief.

So this was the form
of relief we were after

and the judge gave us
the opportunity

to go forward with it.

[music]

As it turned out, this is a rare
visa as I said before,

but it's one that because
of his circumstances,

not only worked for him
but it worked for his wife

and I know that it worked
for his daughter as well.

Yes. No doubt something
bad happened

but that bad happened
for something good.

Because otherwise there
was just no way I could,

I and my family
could stay behind.

We never had our papers.

This was the reason... God
never wanted us to go back home

so He made this way for us
to live back in the U.S.

But more than these papers,
Brian was back with me.

That was more important.

I can live anywhere
in this world.

I don't want that visa
more than him.

If he is there he
is the visa to live.

[small talk bantering]

I have already forgiven...
day one when they shot me...

all four of them who were
involved... who shot me.

I have already forgiven them
in my heart

and I would like them to ask
forgiveness from God

because God loves them, too.

No doubt, they have
done something

which they were not
supposed to do.

But I know that
it was their hand

but it was the work of the devil

who was doing something
bad through them.

[music]

You know, that scar symbolizes
a soldier wound.

You know when veterans,
they go, they get scars.

Scars show you what
happened in your life.

It shows you the past.

So that wound that my
dad has reminds me

that my dad's a soldier;
a soldier for God.

I think that scar remains
on his neck will be...

It's something which will
always make me remember

that Jesus is alive.

So, I’m really thankful

and I’m thankful for God
who gave my dad back.

Because without him I’m
not sure where I would be.

I would just be crazy
because my dad is our,

he's our foundation
of our family.

He's the main person in our
family and I love my dad a lot.

[music]

Marianela was
a graduate student.

When her school announced
a mission trip to China

she wanted to go
but didn't have the money.

And that's when I decided to go

to my professor
and my supervisor

and ask for one week off

so I can go work

and do this
literature evangelism.

[knock, knock, knock]

For those of you that
don't know what that is,

it's knocking on doors
and sharing Christian books

and health book material.

So I went ahead and went
with a group to Georgia.

So it was really nice

to have her along
on the trip with us.

She had done it before

and she could help us out.

Those who were new, like me,
this was my first time,

we would get a bit more coaching

on how to approach houses.

If somebody really shut the door

in our faces:

"don't take it personally",

"just keep your hopes up",
"keep praying".

A good day was
selling ten books.

That's over $100 a day.

And excellence per day
was selling 20 books a day.

That's over $200.

I knew that to accomplish
the $3,000

that I needed for the trip,

I would have to sell
at least double.

And I only had
that week to work.

We gathered together
in a circle, I remember,

holding hands with all the other
colporteurs and the leader,

and right before we prayed we
each said what our goal was.

So, the very first day

when we got there,
Marianela was like,

"Well, my goal today,
Lord, today is 40 books."

The 40-book goal was
really, really a high goal

because it's really rare for
somebody to sell that many.

I kind of looked at her because
I’m not a really firm believer

for that high expectations.

So, I didn't think she was
actually going to get it.

I was in the van with the rest
of the colporteurs

and we started
going door to door

and I remember my bag
was full of books

and all of a sudden I started...

I was starting to sell in sets
...in sets of five

and then sets of three
and sets of four.

Then, throughout the day

you could hear through
the walkie-talkie saying...

This is a bit of a jargon...

That "We need more bread,"
as in more books.

And then when we're in the van

and we're pulling back to our
little command center,

I asked Marianela,

"Well, how many did you get?"

And she got 41.

And I was just floored.

Everybody in the van
was floored.

She actually sold 41 books.

Because one of the other
girls had prayed

that she sells one book
over what her goal was.

But then the next day she said,

"Well, if God can do this many,
then He can do ten more."

He came through,
so you know what?

When it was my turn I said,
"Fifty books."

And again, "I need more bread,
I need more books,

"I need more books.

"I need to be dropped off
in another territory

because I finished
these houses."

At the end of the day
she met her goal.

So then Marianela, you know,
all smiley comes along and says,

"Hey, guys, I met my quota.
I met my 50 books."

I said, "Well, if God blessed
me with 41 books the first day

"and then the second day
with 50 books,

what's another ten books?"

The third day she said,
"I want to sell 60 books.

You gotta help me
sell 60 books."

Well, when I heard
Marianela say 60,

I was just floored and you know,

the one thing that was going
through my head was Jacob.

Whenever he struggled
with the Lord and he said,

"I will not let you go
until you bless me."

And the same, through
the phone you hear,

"I need more bread, I need more
bread, I need more books."

Sixty books is over $600 a day.

Plus donations.

It was about $800 that day
that God blessed me with.

Every night when I saw
the miracle of God,

how He was giving me exactly
the goals I had asked for

and even more with donations,
I just rejoiced in Him

and I could only praise Him
throughout the night.

And Marianela then set
another goal for 70 books.

That's a high calling.

I said, "Well, if God's given
me 41 books the first day,

"50 books the second day,
60 books the third day,

"what's 70 books to God?

That's only 10 more."

Seventy books is a lot to sell.

And she asked
the same prayer of God.

Is she really going to be able
to pull this off?

But in the back of our minds we
thought, "Well, it's not her,

it's going to be Christ
pulling it off for her."

And she sold them.

She sold 70 books.

It's really,
really unbelievable.

That's a huge amount in one day.

I thought it was amazing

that she was getting
all of these books,

that she was able to meet
so many people

and they were all receptive
to what she was saying.

"Peace Above the Storm,"

it gives you 13 steps
on how to find freedom

from worry, guilt
and fear in your life.

It's the fact that she had
that kind of trust in God

and it was very obvious

that she prayed for miracles
to happen and they did.

Four days in a row

Marianela sold the exact number
of books she prayed for.

A grand total of 220 books and
more than $3,000 of earnings.

Nobody could question the fact

that the Lord
had led in her life

and for her to be able
to go to China.

[music]

Although she was seeing a doctor
for high blood pressure,

Gladys was healthy
and happily married.

On Good Friday in 2010,
everything seemed normal

except Gladys was up
much later than usual.

There I am sitting
in the living room,

talking to my friend
on the phone.

Usually, she's not awake,

she's already sleeping
before 10:00,

and it was 11:30 at nighttime.

If you have heard
God's voice before,

you know when
He's talking to you.

I was 100% sure that God
told me to go to the "ER".

I’m going to call you back.

I just told my husband
to take me to the "ER".

Without having any pain
of any kind.

I saw her that she
looked fine to me.

She didn't look sick
or anything, so...

Maybe inside of me,

and sometimes I think about
maybe inside of me,

I was kind of anxious
at the same time

but then as I was looking
at her for a while,

she seemed kind of serious that,

yeah, and she got
a little loud and said,

"Take me to ER!"

I know there's been
a bunch of times

where we could have all

easily been like, "it's okay.

"Just, you know, get some sleep

or take something."

But for some reason,
we sensed it.

We sensed something.
We gotta go.

And we're driving and I’m
telling my husband,

"Don't stop on any
yellow lights."

About a minute away
from the hospital

I started getting this big pain.

Jerry, my husband,
took me into the "ER" room.

We tried to register
ourselves there

and things were not working
out fast enough for me

because my head just
started to explode.

I told them to please
give me a chair

because I just felt
that I had to sit down

because it's like
my legs were weak

and I just felt really as if
I was going to pass out.

They brought me a chair and all
of a sudden, I just told them,

"I’m going to throw up."

So they got me this bucket
and I threw up like crazy.

When they saw that
I was throwing up,

and this pain was just
exploding my head

and they wheeled me
into the emergency room

to put into the machine
for a "CT" scan.

I stayed quiet about it.

I just didn't want
to hear anything,

anything bad that
was going to happen.

Then I just was pacing back and
forth not knowing what to do.

When they got me out of there

then all the doctors
and the nurses,

they all got together to talk
about what they found

and what they were
planning to do.

When we went to where
you were in the room there

and you had so many things
on you and stuff that...

Your heart and the
brainwaves and all that...

I didn't even want to ask
what was wrong with you.

I was afraid to ask.

I remember I was afraid to ask

because I didn't want to hear
bad news about it.

[hospital code announcement]

Need any "ER" physician
for 3600.

Any ER physician. 3600.

I remember that she told
Jerry, "This is serious."

[phone ringing]

We got a phone call
from the emergency room

and I was informed
by the doctor on call

that one of my patients

had checked into the hospital.

Then they told me the story.

She had an aneurism
that was rupturing

and she developed
a subarachnoid bleed.

Now the chances of
somebody surviving that

is maybe one in 1,000.

When it ruptures, the blood gets
into your cerebral spinal fluid

and then you get
permanent damage.

Once it starts bleeding, you
generally cannot save anybody.

They were trying to decide

which way to take me to Florida
hospital in Orlando South,

if by ambulance
or by helicopter.

To tell you the truth, my fear
of heights and my fear of flying

is really, really, really bad.

Since I have such a big
phobia of flying,

I just asked why the helicopter?

She said, "Oh, because
the helicopter only take you

from five to seven minutes."

[music]
[helicopter blades whirring]

This peace that I had in
my heart, I mean, it was,

I was not even concerned
about anything.

I was just relaxed, which
I’m so sure, I’m shocked.

And I just looked out
at the city of Orlando

and it looked so beautiful.

[music] [helicopter whirring]

They wheeled me
into the hospital

and from then on I don't
recall anything else.

Aneurisms are like

a blister on a blood vessel

or a bubble on a tire.

And particularly

they involve the
arteries of the brain,

a gradual buildup is not
what typically occurs

when an aneurism ruptures.

When an aneurism ruptures,

it's just bang,
right out of the blue.

And what happens
when an aneurism bleeds

is that the pressure
in the head gets so high

that no blood goes to the brain.

That usually results in death
or permanent disability.

If the patient remains alive
after the initial bleeding,

then they get attention and we
diagnose and work them up.

So, like in Gladys' case,

her aneurism had already
ruptured when it was discovered

and so at that point

it has a very high chance
of bleeding again.

She has a lot to gain by being
evaluated and treated quickly.

I wasn't even all
the way afraid yet.

I was more like trying to
comprehend what was going on.

I didn't understand
what was going on.

This is meant to be an artery
or blood vessel in the brain

and here hanging off
the back is a bubble

that shouldn't be there

so it really does look
like a bubble on a tire.

So with coiling,

it's all treated from inside
the blood vessel.

We get into the blood vessel
down in the groin.

Here we've drawn another picture
with a similar aneurism

and now inside the
blood vessel is a tube

and that's meant
to represent a catheter.

We put that into the aneurism

and then through that catheter
we put in pieces of wire

that gradually fill up
the aneurism.

The goal of the procedure,
like we said before,

is to prevent the aneurism
from bleeding again

and the way to do that

is to put in as many
coils as we can.

In general, the risks
of treating an aneurism,

the major risks
are stroke or death.

After they told us
that the procedure

was going to take
place the next day,

what they would have to do,

when we went back home,

then I actually felt it hit me.

I started getting a little...
Really depressed and stuff.

And my sons,
they were really there.

I know what they were
going through themselves.

They were silent.

They couldn't express anything.

But I knew inside of them

they were afraid of something
was going to happen.

I kind of dwelled on
the same similar thoughts

over and over again.

Just like,
"am I going to lose her?"

[medical equipment beeping]

Saturday,
I have no recollections

of anything that happened.

The next thing that I remember
is Sunday morning, Easter.

My husband was by my side.

He was kissing my forehead.

I think that his kisses
were the ones that woke me up.

The first time Dr. Hellinger
walked into the room,

the first thing after he
said his name was...

You're lucky to be alive.
You almost died.

But the thing is it wasn't only
Dr. Hellinger that said that.

Every other doctor that came
in also said the same thing.

It's like, "Wow!"

I was still in shock
for a while.

It took me a long time.

I could not believe
what was happening to her.

Anytime a nurse or a doctor
came into the room,

I was expecting something
negative about her results

because she was always getting
a lot of different tests.

One of the nurses that
came in, she said,

"Your wife is going to be
here for a while.

It's going to be weeks,
even months."

Sick patients, and the majority
of patients are sick,

meaning they come to us
with neurological deficits,

it's not uncommon for patients
to be in the hospital

for several weeks
to several months

and then go through a long
rehabilitation process.

Thinking that she was going
to be more than 30 days

or maybe two months, it was too
much for me to even handle.

So I had to come home

and just because I didn't want
to accept that she was there.

But the problem is when I came
home and I went to the bedroom,

she's not there.

But knowing that she was not
there and I couldn't see that,

I had to go to the family room
and sleep in the family room;

turn the TV on, something
to get away from...

Because I was in shock, really.

I’m just going to block it.

This is just a nightmare.
This is a dream.

I’m going to wake up and find out
that this was only a dream.

Sometimes I would blame myself

for different situations
that happened to her,

and that maybe I was
not a good husband.

I was losing faith in God.

One thing He told me,
"I’ve always been with you."

You know, I was asking God,

"Please, I don't want to see her
there so many days and weeks,"

because every time I go to "ICU"
there are so many people

when I pass through there

are going through
difficult situations.

Some are dying there.

To me it felt like just
going there every day,

it felt like months going there.

It was just so difficult.
Each day was so difficult.

But one thing I did was,
"Well, you know, God,

"I just want to leave
it up to You.

"I’m not going to think
ahead what's going to happen.

"I’m just going to think
about now that she's alive

and I’ll believe that You're
going to work it out."

[music]

She was in "ICU"
for about two weeks.

Then she was transferred
to a regular room.

Just as I came in, a doctor
comes in and he says,

"You're leaving tomorrow."

And I said,
"Leaving tomorrow where?

To another room or what?"

He said, "You're going home."

I asked the doctor,

"Wait a minute.
You sure about this?

"She's only been here
like two weeks

and she's already leaving?"

And then the doctor says
in a humorous way,

"We can keep her longer if
you want, several months."

I said, "No, it's okay, doctor."

How's everything, Gladys?
Pressure?

How's your pressure doing now?

When the doctor,
the cardiologist,

when he was going
through the papers

and the papers went up
about this thick

and he was just
looking and looking

and I was looking at his eyes

as if he was really shocked
and amazed what was going on.

While he was looking and I was
trying to see what was going on,

if he saw something bad
happening or something

but this was all the results
from the hospital.

So then he said,
"Listen, I’ll be back.

I want to bring my staff
so they can look at this."

A few seconds later he
comes back with his staff.

He says...

"She's a living miracle!"

The chances of a patient
like this being alert herself,

to realize that there was
something terribly wrong,

showing up at the right time

just when the aneurism
was rupturing,

to be diagnosed, air evacuated,

for all these things
to work perfectly,

and she not suffer any damage
and come out alive

is more than a miracle.

I believe God kept her
awake for a reason

because if she would
have gone to bed early,

she probably would not
have survived it.

This state of mind,

that I was there listening
but not reacting,

listening but not feeling
is like,

"Wow, God. You are doing
this because You love me.

"Because if You know that
if You let me go through,

"if You allow me to react
to all of these things

"that I’m hearing and seeing,

"the doctors saying their
concerned" is like...

I don't think that I
would have made it.

Me, by nature, I’m anxious.

By nature I am...

Trying to solve my own problems.

- You know?
- Yes, I know.

[laughing] Hey.

By nature, I am a person
who wants to be in control.

Yes, I know. [laughing]

I love my wife
more than ever before.

It's amazing.

It's like we started
dating again.

Yes, we did.

I don't call her my wife, it's
like my girlfriend, you know?

And as a matter of fact, we
did something great, too.

We renewed our vows
and we had a ceremony,

we had wedding
and all your brothers

and sisters were there,
our friends.

They came from all over
the United States.

Different places came, you know,
to share that moment with us.

And it was a celebration.

Not only being
together 32 years,

but also God giving you life.

To me, that celebration
was for you.

Easter Sunday... that day
now is very special for me,

now twice special.

The resurrection of Jesus

and at the same time I feel
like I was resurrected, too,

because God had given me life
one more time.

[music]

[music]

My parents noticed that

I wasn't really making
eye contact

with them anymore.

You know, how you
smile at your baby,

you think your baby

will smile back and respond.

I wasn't doing those things.

I was born into a very
normal family.

I had an older brother.

I was born a healthy baby.

One afternoon after my
parents were giving someone

a ride home from church, we got
into a very bad car accident.

I was thrown from
my mother's arms.

My head hit the dashboard.

Had a very bad head injury.

As a result, I was
diagnosed with glaucoma

and I lost my sight at 12.

My parents began to ask God
for a miracle.

They took me to the pastor
and had me anointed.

They fasted.

As you can see, I’m still blind.

I believe that someone who
prays and asks for a miracle

and if they didn't get it the
way that they were expecting,

that's an opportunity
for them to be stretched.

So I began to consider my life

and I said that I had
an older brother.

He taught me
all kinds of things.

But there was a certain
side of his life

that was not necessarily
good, either.

Unfortunately, he got himself
mixed up in the wrong company

and got himself killed
at a very early age.

Had it not been for
the Lord intervening,

I may have ended up
in a very similar situation.

I believe our stories
would probably be the same.

So, I look at my blindness now

as being a blessing
and not a curse.

You know, blindness for me

was definitely not a disability
in my mind.

But socially, it definitely
caused some problems

until I found music.

After I found music,

a lot of the awkwardness that
I dealt with socially fell away.

So, I decided it just
came to me like,

"Wow! This is how I’m
going to make my mark."

[piano music with singing]

♪ But it helps to know
that You are near ♪

♪ So, Jesus, walk with me. ♪

While I was in college,

I met a guy who wanted
to invest in my career

and his mission was to turn
me into a household name.

He wanted to break me
out of the box

and make me into
the next Stevie Wonder.

He had come from
the University of Miami

where he graduated
from their music school.

He had played out in the world.

He had written songs

that Gladys Knight recorded.

He had done...

He had been around
a lot of people.

I met someone that was opening
up a nightclub on South Beach

that was owned and
operated by celebrities

and they would have
these big celebrities

that would come in this club
every night or so.

This is the kind of place that

Patty LaBelle, Oprah Winfrey,
Mike Tyson...

Had the opportunity to meet
Mike Tyson several times.

He would come in there.

A lot of high-profile
people would come in there

and I was the music.

[piano playing and singing]

♪ I could find so much joy ♪

I decided, "Well, I’m going
to leave the secular scene

and do it for the Lord."

And it really wasn't that easy

because nobody really
in the Christian market

knew who I was and
I had to figure out again

how I was going to make my mark

because at that time I still
thought it was about me.

When I first met Neville,

one of the things that
impressed me about him so much

and really made me
want to help him

was he was working three jobs,

he was teaching at
three different schools.

He would get up in the morning.

I think he had to get up
like 5:00 in the morning

to catch public transportation
to get to these schools

and wouldn't get home until,
I think...

Seven, eight, nine o'clock.

Maybe later than
that every night

and he was doing that
as his full-time work

and then trying to do
the ministry on the side.

You know, he wasn't trying to
accept governmental assistance,

he wasn't trying to take
an easy way out.

If anybody had a reason to
give up, it was Neville. Okay?

If you're blind,
everything is ten times harder.

So, I took care of myself.

I did my own laundry.

I cleaned my own apartment.

I had my clothes organized
in my closet.

[scrubbing]

[vacuum cleaner motor whining]

This is Neville.

I said, "Neville,
what are you doing?"

He said, "Oh, I’m vacuuming."

Now, I’m sitting there
in my mind picturing

how does a blind person vacuum?

Do they know what
they've even gone over?

But yet, that spoke a lot to me.

Neville was living by himself

in an apartment
down in south Florida

and yet he cared enough about
basic things like that,

that he would be vacuuming
to clean his apartment

before the weekend began.

♪ Cleaning up
on a Friday afternoon. ♪

When you're not
playing in the club

and you can get a free
complimentary meal,

you know, you don't
have the money

to stretch like that.

So I called my mother, I said,
"Mom, how do you cook rice?"

So I did exactly what
she said and voila!

I said, "Wow! I have rice!"

[laughing]

This is exactly how
I learned to cook.

I’m going to put a little
vegetable oil in here.

Man, I feel like I’m
on the cooking channel.

His potato salad was...

And I don't think

my grandmother would
be watching this...

But it's better than hers!

And I mean, he just...

I was like, "Wow!

This man can really,
really cook!"

I’ve made this dish
for her several times.

♪ That's why I love Him! ♪

Now she does all the cooking
in the house. I’m spoiled.

♪ That's why I love Him! ♪

♪ 'Cause you can't find
nobody Like the God I serve! ♪

Well, hopefully, my wife didn't
change around the seasonings.

♪ That's why I praise Him! ♪

That's the curry right there.

♪ That's why I praise Him! ♪

♪ That's why
He's my all in all! ♪

♪ My King of Kings!
My Lord of Lords! ♪

♪ He's good, He's good,
He's good. Hallelujah! ♪

♪ Sweeter than honey!
And a honey comb ♪

I’m going to make some
Caribbean dumplings as well.

[applause]

When my son first
met Neville he said,

"How can someone like you
that can't see,

how can you cook
and do all of these things?"

And Neville told him,

"Christopher, you can do
anything that you want to do."

He said, "If you trust in God

"and you believe in yourself
and believe you can do anything

that you put your mind to,
you can do it."

♪ And the sea turns
to dry land ♪

♪ When all confidence gives
way to fear Who shall... ♪

He takes it to a whole
other level.

You can hear these other singers
and their voices and you say,

"Man, they're really good."

Then Neville opens his mouth,
starts singing, you say,

"Whoa!"

♪ Are you faithful
to all His commands ♪

♪ Are you one with Him? ♪

He sang at the White House.

He sang at Carnegie Hall.

There are not many people

that ever get to sing
at Carnegie Hall.

So then we'd go
from those engagements

back to little tiny churches

where there was a handful
of people there.

♪ And the trumpet sounds ♪

We were late for a flight
one time at the airport

and we were rushing to get to it

and we happened to see
an airport worker,

a flight attendant or something
walking along

and we asked her
where the gate was.

She told us where it was

and we said, "Thanks!"

And we took off running.

She stopped us and she said,

"But wait, wait!

He can't go on the flight."

We said, "What do you mean?
We got tickets.

We're late for the flight."

She said, "He's been drinking.
He can't go on the flight."

And I said, "He's not drunk,
he's blind!"

When I see Neville,
I don't see a blind person.

I don't see someone
with limitations.

I see a normal,
beautiful person.

You know, I do believe that
the greatest miracles

sometimes are not
the most visible miracles.

Because I think a lot of people

who would probably
be in Neville's shoes,

they would just shrink,
they would just give up.

They would hold their hands up
and say, "I can't take this."

But to be able to get up
every day and to say,

"Lord, I’m thankful
for what I have,

"I love my family, I love
what I'm doing for you

even though there are challenges
and there are struggles."

I think that's the
greatest miracle,

just to be able to know
that what you're doing

affects so many people
that are around you.

There's no anger at God.

There's no "Why me?" attitude;

feel sorry for myself.

God is able to reach
anyone in any situation

no matter the circumstances

and take a bad situation
and make it good.

Sometimes that good situation

doesn't always mean that
the person will be healed.

It's a miracle that there's
always been a peace

and an acceptance of like,

"I’m okay being blind.
It's okay."

And he really means it!

♪ Let me take the time
to tell you what I’ve seen ♪

♪ I’ve seen prayers being
answered immediately ♪

♪ And there are times when the
waiting seems Infinitely long ♪

♪ And weakened,
feinting hearts receive ♪

♪ strength to be strong ♪

♪ That's a miracle,
it's a miracle. ♪

♪ The kind that
happens every day ♪

♪ in a personal
and special way ♪

♪ It's a miracle,
I say it's a miracle. ♪

♪ It's the kind that is too
obvious for everyone to see. ♪

♪ And the greatest miracle
of all is happening to me ♪

♪ Oh-oh! Oh-oh! ♪

The Bible says
"Every eye shall see Him."

That includes blind eyes, too.

♪ There aren't many things
of which we can be sure. ♪

♪ But let me give you evidence
you can't ignore ♪

♪ I was a prisoner to my
former life of sin ♪

♪ But freedom came
my way one day ♪

♪ And now I’m born again
And that's a miracle ♪

♪ It's a miracle. The kind
that happens every day ♪

♪ in a personal and special way
It's a miracle, ♪

♪ I say it's a miracle ♪

♪ It's the kind that is too
obvious for everyone to see ♪

♪ And the greatest
miracle of all ♪

♪ is happening to me ♪