1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: Hello, friends, Welcome to Story Behind Podcast. This is the 2 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: show for people who love hearing a good story and 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: who believe the world could use more positivity. We're the 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: team behind God Updates and God Too, and we hope 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,239 Speaker 1: these weekly short stories will brighten your day. 6 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 2: Doctor Goes Beyond to adopt boy who arrived alone for 7 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 2: surgery and find homes for his siblings written by Heather Wriggleman, 8 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 2: read by Jully Provost and Omaha Doctor goes Beyond to 9 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 2: adopt a boy who arrived alone for surgery, and then 10 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 2: she finds home for his five siblings too. There's something 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 2: about the heart of Nebraska that runs deeper than the 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 2: fairy soil out here. When someone is hurting, we don't 13 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 2: just stand back and watch. We step closer. We show up. 14 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 2: We carry one another when the road gets heavy. The 15 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 2: spirit shown up in the most beautiful way in Omaha, 16 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 2: when a little boy named True Bithy arrived at Children's 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 2: Nebraska for a life saving art surgery. True was only 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 2: five years old and facing a procedure for a severe 19 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 2: congenital heart defect called hypoplastic right heart syndrome. But what 20 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 2: made the moment even heavier was that he arrived completely alone, 21 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 2: no parent, no familiar hand to hold, just a small 22 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 2: boy sitting quietly in a preoperative care That's where antithesiologist 23 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 2: doctor Amy both found him. She remembers the moment clearly 24 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 2: True sitting there waiting for surgery, with no adult beside him, 25 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 2: no one whispering comfort before the long hours ahead. The 26 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 2: procedure would last nearly seven hours, and as doctor Beth 27 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 2: worked through it, she couldn't shake the image of that 28 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,960 Speaker 2: sweet boy who had no stable home waiting for him. Afterwards, 29 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 2: some moments in life arrived like a whisper from heaven 30 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 2: that grows louder and louder until your heart answers. When 31 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 2: the surgery was finished, doctor Beth called her husband Ryan. 32 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 2: We need to have a talk when I get home, 33 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 2: she told him, And I need you to have an 34 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 2: open mind. They already had six children in a full house, 35 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 2: but sometimes love doesn't count chairs at the table, It 36 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 2: simply pulls up another one. It didn't take long for 37 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 2: Ryan to understand what his wife was asking. Before long, 38 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 2: True had something he'd been missing, a family. About eighteen 39 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 2: months later, the adoption was complete, but the story didn't 40 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 2: stop there. True had five siblings still living in an 41 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 2: unstable environment. Amy knew she and Ryan couldn't adopt all 42 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 2: of them, but she also knew they couldn't simply look away, 43 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 2: so she began asking the people around her to step in. 44 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 2: Her sister and brother in law adopted one sibling, her 45 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 2: sister in law welcomed another. A coworker stepped forward to 46 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 2: adopt two more. Finally there was one child left true, 47 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 2: sister Laney, and once again Amy went back to her husband. 48 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 2: That's how Lenny became a part of their family too. 49 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 2: Six siblings, six homes, one community that refused to let 50 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,519 Speaker 2: them fall through the cracks. It's the kind of story 51 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 2: that feels almost sacred in its simplicity. A doctor who 52 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 2: understood that saving a life sometimes means far more than 53 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 2: performing a surgery. Sometimes it means opening your door, expanding 54 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 2: your table, and becoming the safe place somebody else desperately means. 55 00:02:57,919 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 2: And if you've lived in Nebraska long enough, you reck 56 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 2: a nice to spirit behind it. It's the same spirit 57 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 2: that shows up after a storm that helps rebuild barnes, 58 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 2: after a fire, that brings casserole's in quiet prayers. When 59 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 2: life gets hard, it's neighbors helping neighbors love, moving forward 60 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 2: into action, and proof that sometimes the most powerful healing 61 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 2: doesn't happen in an operating room, but in the simple 62 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 2: courage of a family saying there's room for you here. 63 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 2: Wife uses a phone app to find her husband that 64 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 2: was buried by an avalanche. Written by Michael Gardonni, read 65 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 2: by Julie Provost. When a Washington State woman hadn't heard 66 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 2: from her spouse, she became concerned he had been skiing 67 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 2: when she quickly tracked his location. In the end, the 68 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 2: wife found her husband with a nap and thank God 69 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 2: for that. Michael Harris had been skiing a big Chief 70 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 2: bowl at Stephen's Pass in Washington when an avalanche hit. 71 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 2: His skis got caught between two rock slabs, and there 72 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 2: was nothing he'd do to fight against the onslaught of snow. 73 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 2: He slid into a snowhole that kept him upright while 74 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 2: he was completely buried. The sensation was being encased in cement. 75 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 2: Michael said he could hear his phone ring, his wife 76 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 2: Penny calling him, but it was impossible for him to 77 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,559 Speaker 2: reach his Apple watch or his phone, which was zipped 78 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 2: in his pocket, so he started to pray. My religious guy, 79 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 2: I said, God, I'm in trouble. I don't know if 80 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 2: anyone is going to know where I'm at, but I 81 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,119 Speaker 2: can't get out of this on my own, he said. 82 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 2: Penny sensed something was wrong. You get a feeling something 83 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 2: just not right, She said. I followed my intuition, saw 84 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 2: his location, checked it a couple times, and saw I 85 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 2: wasn't moving. Penny then called ski patrol and drove to 86 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 2: Stephen's Pass, where she waited for rescuers. Together, they used 87 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,679 Speaker 2: Penny's phone to locate Michael under several feet of snow. 88 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 2: He was rushed to the hospital for hypothermia, pneumonia, a 89 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 2: contusion to his lung, injuries to his kidneys, and a 90 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 2: right tibial plateau fracture. He'd been down and covered by 91 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,479 Speaker 2: the avalanche for four hours. He was hypothermic and with 92 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 2: a temperature of high seventies and low eighties. Warm ivy 93 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 2: fluids were started and was quickly taken to the ler. 94 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 2: His daughter said he's now recovering well and it is 95 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 2: known to his family as a miracle. Avalanche man. I 96 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,119 Speaker 2: was inches away from the thing that could save my life, 97 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 2: but I just couldn't get there. And yet because she 98 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 2: knew how to use find my phone. I'm here today, 99 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 2: he said. We are blessed and happy. Penny said, I 100 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 2: feel like I got a second life because I got him. 101 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 2: In that moment, the only thing I wanted was to 102 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 2: see my wife of thirty years and my four kids, 103 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 2: he shared, I didn't care about anything else. You know, 104 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 2: that's a big takeaway for me. The things that matter, 105 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 2: the things that we need to be focusing on, and 106 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 2: so they're important to me, and they're even more important 107 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 2: to me now. His daughter created to GoFundMe to help 108 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 2: cover his medical bills, which is nearly at forty thousand 109 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,919 Speaker 2: dollars goal. It must have been the Holy Spirit that 110 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 2: prompted Penny to check on Michael. Up to four hours 111 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 2: in the snow, he came close to death. Thank god 112 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 2: he was found in time. 113 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Story Behind podcast. 114 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: We're really glad you joined us for this week's story. 115 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: To see photos and videos that may have been referenced 116 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: in this episode, check out the links and the show notes, 117 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed what you heard today, subscribe to 118 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: our podcast and please tell a friend about us. 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