Flight to Heaven by Dale Black Page A

spoke to him about a lot of things.
    Ever since my release from the hospital, we had been making numerous trips to Burbank for additional surgeries, postoperative checkups, and treatments. Day after day we threaded our way along the freeways to Dr. Graham’s office, located just across the street from St. Joseph. We averaged three trips a week. Then we were down to two.
    On one of those visits in early November, my grandparents joined my parents and I to talk with Dr. Graham together. First there was the usual routine of X rays, and then the doctor examined my eye, head, face, back, legs, and ankles. Then we waited in the lobby for the X rays to come out.
    When Dr. Graham called us in to his office that day, he was unusually animated as he pointed to my X rays. “I can’t believe this,” he said.
    “Praise the Lord!” Grandpa declared under his breath as he characteristically rattled the coins in his pocket.
    I wheeled myself in for a closer look. “What’s going on?” I asked.
    Dad spoke first. “Dale, when the doctors examined you at the hospital, they told us your left ankle was so severely shattered it would never heal properly. The bone had exploded on impact. Without blood circulation, there is no healing.”
    “It’s called avascular necrosis, ” the doctor said. “It means bone death.”
    Dad continued. “The doctors recommended operating on your ankle to remove the shattered bone and move your foot up against your leg bone, supporting it with metal braces and pins. That way you could still put weight on your foot. The only problem is your left leg would be three or four inches shorter than your right leg. You’d have to wear an elevated shoe, and without an ankle joint, you would have a severe limp.”
    A chill crept through me as he spoke. I had no idea such a possibility existed. I shivered at the thought.
    “Your grandpa and I talked it over,” my dad said, “we prayed about it, and we felt we should give God an opportunity to work in the situation.”
    Dr. Graham listened as my dad spoke, his face reflecting no emotion. Then he interjected, “The risk was that once the bone died, it would likely collapse. We would not be able to do anything at that point. And you would be unable to walk at all. Ever. From my perspective, it was a big gamble.”
    Tears filled my eyes. “So what did you find on the X rays today?”
    “The bone has begun to vascularize,” the doctor said. “For some reason blood is beginning to circulate. The bone is beginning to heal.” He looked at the X rays and shook his head. “I can’t explain it, but here it is.”
    “Praise the Lord!” Grandpa said again, a little more emphatically.
    You can imagine the ride home. We were all filled with joy—and gratitude. As the familiar green freeway signs flew past, the visual of a checklist came to mind:
    1. God spared me from certain death.
    2. My vision is changed. Nothing looks the same to me.
    3. God has given me a renewed spirit.
    4. There are no internal injuries.
    5. I was released from the hospital in eight days.
    6. Now God is healing my dead ankle.
     
    There is a pattern here, I thought. God is doing something. Even the crazy idea to exercise my eye is part of it.
    With that thought, I closed my left eye. It was true. The vision in my injured eye was becoming clearer.
    My faith was doing handstands. I could hardly contain myself. That’s when I prayed, God, I’m going to get to know You better. I’m going to work with You to get the job done that You have in mind for my life. I don’t know what Your plan is exactly, but I have a feeling it’s something special. I’ll tell You this: I’m going to stick close enough to You to find out exactly what it is.

11
     
    SURVIVING THE UNSURVIVABLE
     
    It was late November. I had to get out—out of the backyard, out of the house, out of town. I asked a friend to take me to the Portal of the Folded Wings in Burbank.
    I had to see it again, this time up close and