Thu 5 Nov 2009
I Should Have Died: At the Bottom of the Buck-Buck
Posted by Jeff under Uncategorized , I Should Have DiedNo Comments
My face turned beet-red. I couldn’t breathe, my body crushed by 900lbs of dead weight. I tried to hold my head up. I didn’t know, when I bent my neck, I was shoving a bone directly into the part of the brain controlling breathing, your heart beat, etc. But God rescued me…
We thought it was great fun at our college in the 80s, for guys to suddenly burst into a room, tackle another guy, & pile on top of him, yelling “Buck-Buck!!!” We did our best to imitate pro-wrestler dives, leaping from chairs, stacking bodies ten or more high. Although only 120lbs, I still wasn’t deterred from piling on in the fun. In fact, I usually started it. But one day, a bunch of my best friends (Tim Henley, Ben Denny, Lance Perry, George Husk, Steve Rothgeb, I think…maybe more) screamed “Buck-Buck” & I suddenly found myself pinned under all that weight.
Three years later, I found out a malformed bone in my neck was compressing my brainstem my entire life. By age 25, the left side of my brainstem was “kinked” from it. Any sudden neck movement could have made it pierce my brainstem. I also discovered the “double-joints” I had as a kid were really an insidious form of hyperflexibility affecting everything from my heart to all my joints & ligaments, including those in my neck & in my rib cage.
With all that weight squashing me, the brain problem & my ligaments being so loose, I should have died, right then & there, at the bottom of the buck-buck pile. The ligaments in my ribs should have given way & punctured my lungs & my rib cage collapsed. The bone should have stabbed into my brain, killing me instantly. I should have died, really.
But the Lord met me. Tim Henley (later my Best Man) happened to be directly on top of me. As I was about to pass out, he heard me gasping the words “Can’t breathe!” He pushed all that weight off me & hollered for all the guys to get off. They moved fast. After a few deep breathes, I was okay, heart still ticking. But in light of what I know now, I should have died. I am so glad I didn’t die! Besides the fact that it would not have been in my best interest, these were all great friends & my death by buck-buck would have scarred them for life. That day, the Lord met all of us, there at the bottom of the buck-buck, & we didn’t even know it.
Genesis 28:16-17 Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “GOD is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.”
testimonies of how she has blessed each of us & I was pleased as punch to be able to shout out how much she meant to me & Carol. Then we presented her with a photo book reflecting on her years being a part of this local body of Christ. The book was very well designed & laid out by our Senior Pastor, James Laero.