Author Description

"It's just not your time yet, Little Joe..." Joe Laws is a man used to fixing things. After all, he's fixed robots, water pumps, conveyors, and just about everything else that needs fixing at the automotive facility where he works. But when on July 17, 2011 a fall from the roof left his body broken and bleeding, even Joe knew it was beyond repair. He also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he had died. It was a safe assumption, considering the extent of his injuries. The left side of his body was completely crushed; his back, neck, collarbone, and eleven of his ribs were broken. His lungs had collapsed and his heart had stopped. And, as the doctors of Vanderbilt University Medical Center would soon learn, he was in complete hemorrhagic shock, meaning that he had essentially bled to death from a ruptured spleen. As they tried frantically to save Joe's life, his family prayed fervently that God would spare him. Joe, in the meantime, was on the ride of his life. As he floated away from earth and into the skies above, he saw and felt a large hand cradling him, as a parent would a most beloved child. He knew immediately that he was being held, literally, by the hand of God. He was lifted toward a brilliant light, where he felt a love so powerful and all encompassing that it defied explanation. For what seemed an eternity, he played in "his Heaven," visited with loved ones and learned about the true meaning of good, evil, and life itself. He rejoiced at being "home," until God delivered the devastating news that he was going back into his body. It was not his time. As it turned out, Dr. Richard Miller, Chief of Vanderbilt's Trauma Unit, agreed. During a dangerous, five-hour surgery, Dr. Miller would use a revolutionary method-and titanium strips-- to secure Joe's crushed ribcage and save his life. After struggling for two years to recover physically and emotionally from his ordeal, Joe realized he could help others by sharing his experience. Held By the Hand of God i